Women's and Children's Hospital

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing about the Women's and Children's Hospital.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: An exasperated and distressed constituent—a young mother; and I will declare that that constituent was my niece—called me recently to complain about the treatment she received upon presenting her 6-year-old very ill child at emergency at the Women's and Children's Hospital, with a very high and fluctuating temperature.

Even though there were few people in the waiting area, she was told it was an emergency reception area only and they advised her to see a GP. She left and then had to locate and make an appointment with her GP. When the GP eventually viewed the child, he immediately ordered an X-ray, which revealed the child had pneumonia, and he instructed that she immediately go to the hospital.

The child was hospitalised for several days, and when released, was given antibiotics. The mother was told to return immediately if the child had an allergic reaction, and to pick up another prescription. Well, this happened, but on her return no such prescription was available and they had to wait hours to be seen by another doctor. My questions to the minister are:

1. Is the hospital now deemed an emergency only hospital?

2. What is the new policy on children who present at emergency to see a doctor, particularly when they are unable to see their own GP?

3. Do SA Health and the government accept any responsibility if a child is turned away, is misdiagnosed and then becomes more seriously ill or perhaps—and let's hope we don't ever see this happen—dies as a result of being turned away?

4. Will he now launch a review of the policy in turning children away without first being seen by a doctor?

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo, I would just like to remind you that it is time for you to ask a question, not multiple questions. You are sort of gilding the lily a little bit there with that.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: I apologise for that, Mr President, but it tends to be very hard for crossbenchers to even get questions in today.

The PRESIDENT: I respect that. The honourable Minister for Health and Wellbeing.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:52): I thank the honourable member for his question and indicate that the facts as he presents them are concerning. If his niece would like me to look into those matters, I am happy to do so. In terms of the questions, I am certainly not aware of any change in the presentation criteria to the Women's and Children's Hospital emergency department.

The fact of the matter is that our emergency departments are, if you like, open access. People make their own decision, if they are self-presenting, as to whether the emergency department is the appropriate place. That's not always the case. In the last year, SA Health had a particular campaign encouraging young people to think about whether the ED was the best place to get the care they need.

In terms of a clinician suggesting that a person may want to go to a GP, my understanding is that it is not uncommon for that suggestion to be made. It is, if you like, a matter of disclosure as to what the options are. I certainly would be concerned if it was in the context of being turned away, as the honourable member puts it, but that goes back to the facts of the particular case. I appreciate the honourable member is asking me general questions, not case-specific ones.

If I remember rightly, the question was: will I give an assurance that no patient would leave the emergency department without having seen a doctor. I imagine there would be many patients that would, because our EDs are staffed not only by doctors but by highly trained nurses—emergency care nurses, nurse practitioners and the like. Depending on their need, that critical care response may not be provided by a doctor.