Women's and Children's Hospital

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:58): Supplementary: is the minister aware of the sorts of warnings that I referred to in my question being made to clinicians by the board and the chief executive's office, and does he accept the damage that this sort of behaviour has on the morale of our medical profession?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:59): Was that in relation to the comment that the management felt it put the network in a negative light?

The Hon. C. Bonaros: Cast in a negative light.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I would go back to the comment I made in my original remark, which is that I would hope that networks would maintain channels of communication such that people wouldn't feel the need to go beyond the network. I accept the fact that from time to time that will happen. I certainly expect health management and health boards to also respect that people have the right to speak.

Both internally and externally, as I've mentioned in my previous answer, the board is taking seriously the concerns of clinicians. That doesn't mean that every clinician is going to be happy. In that context, with the board's receipt of the two significant perspectives on the paediatric cardiac surgery, that actually served to highlight the diversity. Up until that point, the alliance was speaking in concert with a group of clinicians who were the dominant voice, if not the exclusive voice. As those reports were released and discussed within the network, it became increasingly clear that there was a diversity of view within the clinicians.

In our governance arrangements, in our consumer and clinician engagement, we are not so naive to think that with 45,000 employees there's only one view. It's not surprising that there was a diversity of view at the Women's and Children's Hospital. That's become increasingly clear over time.

The government's commitment to high-quality health services for women and children is resolute. We are committed to a very major building project west of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, and this most recent budget saw a significant increase in the budget to the network. We will continue to work with the Women's and Children's Health Network as they continue to work with their clinicians and their communities.