Health Infrastructure

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:44): Recent data has revealed that the Marshall Liberal government's record health spend will result in a 65 per cent boost in treatment spaces across redeveloped metropolitan and peri-urban emergency departments. A much-needed 140 new treatment places will be added to emergency departments and emergency extended care units from the Lyell McEwin Hospital in the north to the Southern Fleurieu Health Service in the south.

Under the Marshall Liberal government, with more than $1 billion annually committed to hospital redevelopments and a total health spend of $7.4 billion in 2021-22, South Australians will increasingly receive the emergency care they need closer to their homes. The need for more capacity in our emergency departments is exactly what we are delivering as we continue our landmark hospital build program. The Marshall Liberal government is delivering more beds, including the extra 140 treatment spaces across those emergency departments.

As we continue to roll out the state’s record health spend, every metropolitan hospital will be upgraded and we will expand almost every metropolitan hospital emergency department as well as several peri-urban emergency departments. At the Flinders Medical Centre, for example, we are transforming the state's busiest emergency department into its largest, expanding it by 30 treatment places to a total of 86 spaces.

The government is almost doubling the number of beds in the Lyell McEwin Hospital emergency department, taking it from 39 treatment spaces to 72. At The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, we are adding 15 emergency department treatment spaces as part of the $314 million redevelopment of that hospital. Modbury, Mount Barker, Murray Bridge, Gawler and the Southern Fleurieu Health Service in Victor Harbor will also grow their emergency departments by 45 treatment spaces between them to help ease pressure on the larger hospitals and to accommodate the extra demand from growing populations in those areas.

Having inherited an absolute mess from the Labor Party's failed attempt at Transforming Health, the Marshall Liberal government is improving South Australia's health services to ease pressure on our emergency departments, reduce ambulance ramping and deliver health care closer to home.

To complement our expansion of world-class infrastructure, the Marshall Liberal government is also expanding our team of world-class clinicians. As shadow minister for health and wellbeing, Chris Picton, correctly pointed out while speaking to Ali Clarke on ABC radio recently, we currently have more doctors, more nurses, more midwives and more ambulance officers in South Australia than ever before in the state's history.

We are employing almost 1,000 more staff, including more than 500 frontline doctors and nurses. Minister for Health, the Hon. Stephen Wade, recently announced 74 additional paramedics would be added to their ranks, meaning more than 250 additional Ambulance Service personnel have been employed in the first three years of this government. South Australians are being cared for by more health professionals than ever before in bigger, better hospitals.

As those opposite well remember, it was not that long ago that the former Labor government cut beds, downgraded services at our hospitals and closed the Repat entirely. The former Labor government brought ramping to South Australia, they allowed it to fester and develop into the norm for our hospitals. It is unacceptable, and we are committed to fixing this issue. We have rolled out a range of initiatives to expand capacity and improve patient flow. We will continue to do this. We will fix it.

South Australia is not alone in experiencing high levels of emergency department presentations in recent months. During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals throughout the nation have experienced increased pressure. Unfortunately, ramping and long waiting times for ambulances have been experienced in Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales as well. We thank all South Australians for their patience during this challenging period. Every South Australian can rest assured that we are committed to building a better health system for all.

As Minister Wade said recently, while we cannot make the concrete dry any faster on the upgrades that we are currently undertaking, we are getting on with the job of increasing capacity in our hospitals to help fix ramping and deliver better health care for all South Australians.