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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-24 Daily Xml
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ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

Ms SIMMONS (Morialta) (15:12): My question is to the Minister for Health. What is the government's reaction to the three recent proposals to redevelop the Royal Adelaide Hospital, which appear to neglect the need for major cancer services?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (15:13): I thank the member for Morialta for her question, and I acknowledge her very strong interest in the health system. Linear accelerators are essential cancer radiotherapy machines that deliver doses of high energy radiotherapy to the tumour in a cancer patient's body to fight cancer cells. Linear accelerators, by their very nature, are not only important but are also dangerous equipment. These machines should be housed in purpose-built concrete bunkers that are several metres thick to protect people from radiation. They cannot be easily or cheaply placed in buildings that house patient accommodation.

Currently, at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the East Wing contains a fortified building especially developed to house the accelerators and their bunkers (I think, from memory, there are five accelerators there). There will be a similar purpose-built building in the new RAH on the railway site, and we intend to expand the number of accelerators. The bunker is currently collocated with the RAH's cancer services.

Under all three of the Liberal options, the East and Hone wings are demolished, with no explanation of where the linear accelerators and their fortified bunker would go. The Liberals have either left these machines out or want to combine them with patient beds, creating a huge and difficult risk for patients.

Ms Chapman: Like at Flinders.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The deputy leader intervenes, and she should have checked her facts before she did so. She said, 'Like at Flinders Medical Centre.' The facts are that Flinders Medical Centre receives its therapy support from the Flinders Private Hospital (an arrangement that I think was established by her side of government, but I would have to check), and the linear accelerator in the Flinders Private Hospital is in a separate building. It has some mechanical engineering services, I am told, above it and is separate from patient care. Just be careful about what you claim because you should check the facts before you do.

The only other option, of course, if the Liberals have left this machinery out of their new development proposals, would be to take them off site by privatising them, and I suspect that is what is at the heart of what they are planning, because we know from their history in government that they privatise everything they can. They outsourced the management of the Modbury Hospital—we brought it back. They wanted to privatise the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as well.

We have checked across the country and very few hospitals locate these machines near patient beds because of the huge logistical problems and the huge cost involved in ensuring patients are properly protected, because, once you build these bunkers, it is very difficult to move the machines in and out, and they do have to be upgraded on a periodic basis. If the machines are to remain on site under the Liberals, it would appear that they would have to be collocated with patient beds. This is the only option from looking at the master plans that the Liberals have put out. Of course, this would create serious radiation risk to patients and staff in the hospital.

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I am not making this up.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: This is a huge blunder, exposed only one day after they released their options for the Royal Adelaide Hospital site. What this says is that the Liberals have failed to properly plan their options. They have come up with half-baked proposals that lack detail. Professor Dorothy Keefe, who is the Clinical Director of the Royal Adelaide Hospital Cancer Centre, was not consulted on the Liberals' plans. The head of cancer services at the RAH was not consulted by the Liberals about what should happen to cancer services at that hospital. She confirmed this morning in a media conference that it is far superior to locate linear accelerators separate to patient beds for both patient and staff safety. Professor Keefe also said that one of the best things about the new hospital is that it will enable us to plan cancer services in a way that lets the needs of patients dictate the layout.

In the new hospital we can design from the ground up and determine how much space services need, rather than the random way things have grown over decades without proper planning. The new hospital would give us the chance to completely redesign the hospital to make it not only a better place to work but also a much better place for all the patients. We will have sensible relationships between departments and the ability to bring in modern models of care, IT systems and electronic case records.

The government will go to the next election promising to build a brand new, state-of-the-art hospital that will cost less and be finished quicker than anything the Liberals would be able to do on the current site. What the opposition will be doing is going to the election with three options, none of which they will commit to, all of which they say they will consult with the public about after the election. They are saying to the electors of South Australia: 'Trust us. We will tell you what we are going to do after you have put us into office.' What a joke. This is a knife in the heart of the Liberal strategy for election in 2010. They cannot be trusted on health. We know that from their past experiences in government and they are going to the people saying, 'We might build one of these options. We will consult with you and then tell you.' We know what that is. That is code for doing nothing.

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