Question Time

COVID-19 Hospital Response

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:01): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing about the COVID Delta response in our hospitals.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: This morning I was alarmed to hear of the hospitals and staff in New South Wales that are stretched to breaking point because of the current out of control wave of coronavirus. Figures released today show that there are 1,029 cases in New South Wales. Almost 100 people have died and hundreds more are in hospitals. Beds are in such drastic short supply that ambulances containing patients with the virus are having to ramp for hours. The New South Wales government is being forced to bring in 350 medical staff from overseas. My questions to the minister are:

1. Can he outline what strategy has been put together in the event that South Australia experiences a similar wave or a lesser wave?

2. What is the tipping point for our hospitals for the number of cases they can handle?

3. How can our hospitals manage additional demand when they are already struggling now with no community transmission?

4. Is the government in talks with the federal government to build a medi-facility like one that has been announced by the Queensland government?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:02): I thank the honourable member for his question and it highlights yet again that the crossbench is showing repeatedly that they are more ready for government than the group that holds the current opposition. I am mindful of the developments in Europe where apparently some green groups are challenging the social democrats for the right as alternative government. Yet again, it's a very sensible, relevant question from the—

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Point of order.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The minister will resume his seat.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, the leader! I can't hear either of you.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order, the leader! Leader of the Opposition, you have your whip on his feet. He wants to make a point of order and I can't hear him. Now, the Hon. Mr Hunter?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The point of order is a question of relevance. The minister was asked a question by the Hon. Mr Pangallo—a quite pertinent question, I think, to his portfolio—and the minister goes off on a diatribe with nothing to do with health or the question that he was asked.

The PRESIDENT: I am sure that the minister is going to address—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The point of order has been made and I am sure that the minister is going to address the nub of the question.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I would like to thank the Hon. Ian Hunter sharing with me in his complimenting the Hon. Frank Pangallo for a very important question, because it is a very important question, and to be frank, if you asked the people of South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Leader of the Opposition!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —if they wanted to know the answer to the Hon. Frank Pangallo's question—

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —or the homelessness—

The PRESIDENT: Point of order. Resume your seat.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —series we received this week I am sure they would be—

The PRESIDENT: Minister!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —with Frank Pangallo.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, resume your seat! The point of order?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Sir, the minister continues to talk about—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I can't hear.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —politics and the interaction of crossbenchers and refusing to answer questions about Aboriginal health.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I cannot hear the leader. He is trying to make a point of order. I have no idea about the relevance of it or not, because I can't hear him. And it's on both sides.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: My point of order is that the minister continues to talk about things like politics in Europe that have nothing to do with the question when repeatedly today he has refused to talk about things like Aboriginal health.

The PRESIDENT: Order! Resume your seat. The minister will continue his answer, and I am sure he is going to address the nub of the question that was asked by the Hon. Mr Pangallo.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Well, that will be my decision. The minister to continue.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Thank you, Mr President, and through you could I thank the Hon. Frank Pangallo for his question—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I am listening to the minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —because the Hon. Frank Pangallo's question—

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Minister for Human Services will refrain from pointing.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The leader will remain silent, or the next question will escape the Labor Party.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Unlike the jibe from the opposition benches when the question was asked, it wasn't a Dorothy Dixer. It's the sort of question that ordinary South Australians are asking. They want to know that this state is ready.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Do you want the minister to answer this question? Order! Minister, continue.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I think it is important to appreciate the different phases this pandemic is going through. In phase 1, in terms of the first wave of cases, particularly focused in the first six months of 2020, there was feverish activity within SA Health to prepare for protecting the people of South Australia in an environment where not only was there no vaccine; there was still so much we did not know about COVID-19. In those first few months, as I have said to the house before, it was a very chilling prospect.

At the time we reached what turned out to be the peak of our first wave in late March 2020, we were seeing images of Europe and places like Italy where countries that were very familiar to us and where we have great affection for them were struggling to cope under a wave of hospitalisations with COVID. What we then went through in the latter part of 2020 was a significant easing of the threat through effective border controls, public health measures and the like.

What we have seen particularly since about June this year has been the resurgence of community transmission within the Australian jurisdiction. That is in a very different environment to the first wave. In the first wave we did not even have an approved, developed vaccine. The first vaccine wasn't available till late in the second half. So the preparations for the acute sector readiness in the first wave were very different to what we face now.

We now have a situation where not only have we got a lower level of community transmission than we had during the first wave in South Australia but we also have significant vaccination levels. As of this week we passed the 50 per cent of the South Australian population over 16 being vaccinated. That will significantly reduce the prospect of people contracting the virus, and if they do contract the virus, of being hospitalised; if they are hospitalised, of needing to go into intensive care; and if they are in intensive care, the prospect of them dying.

So the acute sector plans that are developed by SA Health are constantly under revision, and I can assure the house at the time of the commencement of the domestic outbreaks, which initially were in New South Wales and more recently Victoria, SA Health consciously went back to revise and update their planning.

As I understand it, there is a number of documents in the series, if you like. There is a pandemic plan, and plans at the local health network level as well. We will continue to revise those plans, because the more South Australians step up and get vaccinated, the longer we can act to stop community transmission in South Australia, the greater prospects that we would have in the context of an outbreak. The honourable member is completely right. Even in a significantly vaccinated community, the challenges for the health system with significant community outbreaks are significant.

Within New South Wales, they will be experiencing changes in health presentations. During the first wave, we had a significant reduction in presentations to emergency departments. There will be different elements of the health system where there will be more or less demand, so the health system needs to manage that. Certainly, the SA Health team will be watching and learning from the experiences in New South Wales so that we can better understand how our system might react.

After all, some of the responses to the first and second wave in Australia were unexpected, and plans that were made earlier in the year needed to be revisited. I am sure that will be done as we learn how New South Wales responds to its outbreak. Our thoughts are very much with our New South Wales brethren and also, for that matter, Victoria. There continues to be cooperation between the jurisdictions to support each other. There is only so much you can do at a distance, but particularly contract tracing is an area in which we are able to provide support. I can assure you that the government's investment in the—

The PRESIDENT: The minister needs to bring the answer to a conclusion.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Just very briefly, then, I reassure the house that the government has made provision. In the most recent budget, there is $86 million to ensure that SA Health will have the resources for its COVID response that will enable it to pivot to respond to COVID-19.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo, a supplementary.