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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-02-13 Daily Xml
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HOSPITAL CHIEF EXECUTIVES

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:17): My question is to the Minister for Health. Has the government received notice of resignations from any other chief executive officers of metropolitan hospitals? The chief executive officer of the Flinders hospital has announced that he is not renewing his contract. A general manager of the RAH resigned two weeks ago. Channel 7's Today Tonight program has published their claim—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms CHAPMAN: —that the management of these hospitals has become impossible—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms CHAPMAN: —and their opposition to the Marjorie Jackson-Nelson hospital. Yesterday I asked the minister when he was going to release the Paxton Partners report into the efficiency of public hospitals in South Australia, including the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the Flinders Medical Centre and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and to date it has not been produced.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (15:18): The deputy leader is a class act. She comes in here full of froth and bubble, trying to create ferment in relation to a whole range of issues which have very simple explanations.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Go on, tell me how I am struggling. We have an excellent health system in this state.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: You asked a question; are you waiting for an answer or are you just going to talk over me? Your choice.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The general manager of the Royal Adelaide Hospital has taken a job I understand at Adelaide University which is a promotional kind of position, which I was told about a few days ago. She took that position, I think—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I warn the deputy leader.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The deputy leader is making statements which she cannot demonstrate to be true. She is making things up, which she does all the time. She is a dishonest member of this place. She makes statements—

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —which she knows are inaccurate.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Health must not make personal reflections upon another member.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I withdraw it, Mr Speaker, and I apologise. The facts are that the GM of the Royal Adelaide Hospital resigned, which is in within her rights, and she has another job. The GM of Flinders Medical Centre has chosen not to renew his contract. He has been there for six years. He has done an excellent job, as has the GM of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Their resignations in no way reflect on their performances nor on the relationship which they have with the government. It is a warm relationship and I wish them both the very best in their future endeavours. I understand the GM of the Flinders Medical Centre will be setting up a business as a private consultant, particularly into some of the reforms, and he will be working in the area of reform of hospital processes—an area in which he has had great success. Obviously, we will have to go through the process of replacing them.

People resign from various organisations. There have been a number of cases over the years, but it does not mean that anything is not working well. In fact, to the contrary, the system is working very well. The Paxton report, which the member asked me about yesterday, which I said I would respond to, will be considered in due course by government, but the goal of that report is to make sure our health system works as efficiently as it can. I am amazed that the opposition would try to play politics with this because one of the things that I know the deputy leader has said, as has the leader, is that we already put enough money into health, the trouble is we do not spend it very wisely. We believe we do need to spend that money wisely and we are getting advice about how we can spend it more wisely.

Yet, I know what will happen. We will make changes based on the recommendations that Paxton makes and on every single one of those things that we implement, which may have a little bit of pain with them, the deputy leader—let me make this prediction—will make politics of it and say that the government is letting people down and misusing the resources and doing things the wrong way. Our goal, as the government, is to make sure our health system is run as well as it possibly can. That is not an easy thing to do. It requires effort and some pain on occasions by people who work in the system, but unfortunately that is the reality that we have to deal with. It is not as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition would put it. You make all sorts of grand promises and do nothing.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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