Keith and District Hospital

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:33): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding hospitals.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: The chair of the Keith hospital board, Mr Warren Ingerson, told ABC radio Adelaide on Tuesday:

…we still have a situation where we have done what the government asked us to do, but we are not getting any support back from them…

Because of this lack of support from the government, we have had to suspend the emergency services…

We have a minister who says we have to do certain things. If we do them we will get support of the government. Now we have an unelected bureaucrat in Chris McGowan overriding the minister saying, 'No we're not doing any of that, chuck all that out, come up with another option.' What is going on here?

Steven Marshall and Stephen Wade came to the hospital prior to the last election…and made the comment, the quote was, 'The Keith hospital will not just survive, it will thrive under a Marshall leadership,' that's what you said. We trusted you. And here we are three years down the track and we are going absolutely nowhere.

My questions to the minister are:

1. Why has the minister not signed off on the business case for the Keith hospital?

2. Why has the minister only agreed to rolling three-month contract extensions that mean the hospital can't implement the business case and attract and retain staff?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:34): I thank the honourable member for her question. I think it is very important to see this situation in its context. I am advised that the Keith and District Hospital has been under financial stress since at least the early 2000s. The Marshall Liberal government, in the context of our strong commitment to rural health, is keen to work with the Keith and District Hospital board to maximise health outcomes for people in the South-East.

That is why, since the 2018 election, the Marshall Liberal government has provided more than $3 million to the Keith and District Hospital. We have provided more in funding support since the election than the former Labor government provided in the last seven years of their government. So we are very committed to working with the Keith and District Hospital.

The Hon. C.M. Scriven interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The deputy leader will remain silent.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the good work of two boards: the board of the Keith and District Hospital and also the board of the Limestone Coast Local Health Network, because those two boards have been working together to develop the long-term plans for the Keith and District Hospital and, to be frank, the health services in that area.

It would have been my hope that these long-term plans could have been settled by the end of this year. That wasn't possible. Part of the reason, I am sure, is the pandemic that has distracted so much of normal 'business as usual' activity. When Mr Ingerson made the comments earlier this week, as I understand it he wasn't aware of the government's commitment to fund beyond the end of this year, but if he was let me reiterate that that is the case. The government has extended its funding support to 30 June.

I would particularly describe this funding as vital transition funding to help the hospital reconfigure the services of the hospital in the context of the health services of the region. In a conversation with Mr Ingerson recently, we were both strongly of the view that it is in the best interests of the people of Keith and the region for the Keith and District Hospital board and the public health services, managed by the Limestone Coast Local Health Network, to work together. There are not two communities in Keith. It is one community in the town and in the region, and it is very important that we work together to deliver the best outcomes.

That is why the bill we considered yesterday has a specific responsibility on local health network boards to work with other partners in their region to maximise health outcomes. I can assure you that the Limestone Coast Local Health Network board, under the leadership of Grant King, is very committed to collaboration, and we are seeing that with the good work that is being done in terms of the development of long-term plans for Keith and regions.