Glenelg Community Hospital

273 The Hon. R.A. SIMMS ().3 May 2023). Will the minister commit to funding the upgrade of the Glenelg Community Hospital sterilisation department to ensure compliance with new national standards?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries): The Minister for Health and Wellbeing has been advised:

In 2017, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the commission) advised all Australian health facilities that sterilisation departments would have until December 2021 to comply with AS/NZS4187 for commonwealth accreditation purposes.

The commission has revised the date for compliance twice since that time, from December 2021 to December 2022, and finally to December 2024.

In July 2022, SA Health approved an application from Glenelg Community Hospital to alter the sterilisation department to comply with the standards. The hospital board was advised at that time that the government was not in a position to provide funding to support the alteration, and this remains the case.