Adult Burns Service

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:06): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister update the council on acute care in South Australian hospitals?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I call the minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:06): I thank the honourable member for his question. South Australians can be proud of our high-quality services: our health services in our hospitals, our primary health care and our preventative health. One example of these services is the Adult Burns Service located at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The burns service is the dedicated tertiary burn centre for South Australia, but not just South Australia, for a number of neighbouring jurisdictions. Its catchment area is the largest of any Australian burns unit, covering 2.4 million square kilometres. It includes South Australia, Northern Territory, south-west Queensland, western New South Wales and north-west Victoria. It is a busy and highly-regarded service.

For almost 20 years, Professor Dr John Greenwood has led the service and his contribution to it has been crucial. With his retirement coming up next month, I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Professor Greenwood's career and public service and to thank him on behalf of the people of South Australia. Since his appointment to be the head of the burns unit in 2001, Professor Greenwood has cared for hundreds of acute burns victims each year, including victims of the Bali bombings and victims of the bushfires that ravished our state last summer.

Professor Greenwood has been an innovator in his field, developing new techniques and products, including a technique to treat burns without the use of skin grafts. His composite, cultured skin technology was developed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital Skin Engineering Laboratory, and his research has contributed to the development and implementation of a cutting-edge technique known as Biodegradable Temporising Matrix, which is a skin dermal replacement and temporises the wound first. It was also developed here in Adelaide.

Professor Greenwood's world-class research and innovation is helping burn victims to recover much faster and with better prospects for future life. In 2003, Professor Greenwood was made a Member of the Order of Australia as part of a special honours list for providing medical assistance to victims of the 2002 Bali bombings.

In 2013, Professor Greenwood was awarded Doctor of Health Sciences for a thesis documenting the establishment of the Adult Burns Service in South Australia, and in 2016 he was named South Australian of the Year. Professor Greenwood's leadership, skill and dedication has also helped establish South Australia's burns centre as a leading burns service. He leaves a legacy that all South Australians should be both proud of and grateful for.

The burns service is currently the only burns centre verified by the American Burn Association outside of continental North America. This status confirms that the burns unit is meeting the highest standards for the care of burns patients. The American Burn Association verification process entails a rigorous review process designed to examine all burn centre resources to ensure the provision of optimal care from the time of injury, through rehabilitation to reintegration back into the community.

To achieve verification, a burns centre must meet standards for organisational structure, injury prevention and education, qualifications and training of personnel, facilities and resources. Undergoing this robust review process and achieving verification indicates to patients, families, carers and health professionals that an institution provides quality care.

Initially verified by the American Burn Association in 2009, the burns unit was re-verified in 2012, 2016 and 2018. I congratulate Professor Greenwood on the invaluable contribution he has made to so many people's lives—patients, families, colleagues and students—as well as to the success of the service itself. His personal commitment to his patients and the service is exemplary. I would like to thank him for his active role in planning to ensure a sustainable service in the future following his retirement, and I wish him all the best in that retirement.