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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-09-24 Daily Xml
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HOSPITALS, WINTER DEMAND

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (14:25): My question is to the Minister for Health. What has been the demand on our hospitals over winter, and what is the government doing to cope with future demand increases for hospital services?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:25): I am very pleased to answer this question from the member for Reynell, and I acknowledge her great interest in health. Our goal in government is to try to make our health care system sustainable, and essentially that means that we need to do two things: we need to increase supply and we need to reduce demand. A key component in managing demand is keeping people out of emergency departments (EDs) so that they do not go there unless they really need to, and that means providing other places where people can be looked after. This year members would be aware that we ran a major television campaign urging people not to go to EDs in winter if they had only minor ailments but instead to see their GP or to ring the call centre 'healthdirect' number. This strategy worked remarkably well.

In addition to it and other strategies, I can announce today that South Australia's metro public hospital emergency departments experienced a 7.1 per cent drop in presentations this winter compared to last year. That is an extraordinary thing, because members will know that I come in here all the time talking about increasing demand. Well, this is an example of reduced demand. Even more significantly, the lowest urgency categories of ED presentations dropped by 16.5 per cent—that is, 95 or fewer patients a day in these categories—after the commencement of the TV campaign.

The following reductions were recorded in categories 4 and 5 (that is, the lower levels of urgency) in ED attendances between August 2007 and August this year. There was a reduction across the board over winter but a particular reduction once the television advertising came onto the screens, and that was in August. Comparing August this year with August last year, the Women's and Children's Hospital had a 20.9 per cent reduction in attendances at emergency; the Lyell McEwin, 20.6 per cent; the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 10.8 per cent; the Flinders Medical Centre, 15 per cent; the Royal Adelaide Hospital, 7.2 per cent; Modbury Hospital, 5.6 per cent; and Noarlunga Hospital a staggering 24.4 per cent. So, there were big reductions in attendances at emergency departments.

Not only did our television advertising have an impact, but it is an example that, when it does run ads, there is a benefit to the community from the government running television advertising, and this is a very clear example of that. We also have other strategies in place. I have to say that we were lucky, because the burden of flu was not as great this year compared to last year.

We also have other strategies in place. We have what we call our Hospital at Home strategy, which helps people with chronic disease to be managed at home so they do not have as great a likelihood of going to hospital, and that is working extremely well. Also, we distributed more flu vaccines this year through GPs to people aged over 65. This year 229,665 people aged over 65 had flu shots compared to 225,000, and a few, last year.

Also, as members know, we are establishing GP Plus health care centres (we have them at Aldinga and Woodville), and we are providing chronic disease programs in addition to other primary care services. I do not think it is coincidental that the figures for Noarlunga are to some degree also affected by the Aldinga GP Plus Centre. We are allocating $35 million towards activities aimed at keeping people out of hospitals by better managing their conditions in 2008-09. They are the things we are doing to reduce demand, but we are also doing a lot of things on the supply side.

I can announce today that, since 2002, as a government we have created an additional 248 beds in Adelaide hospitals; and, of course, in addition to that, we have our home beds, but these are 248 hospital-based beds. So, 136 extra beds are staffed at the Flinders Medical Centre, 53 additional beds at the Lyell McEwin and 27 additional beds at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. We are also working on the upgrade of a number of our hospitals, of course, to create more beds. Therefore, an additional 58 beds will be available at the Lyell McEwin by the end of next year, and that is part of our $336 million redevelopment, which is virtually doubling the size of the hospital; and, of those beds, 38 will be available by December this year.

An additional 30 beds will open at the Flinders Medical Centre in mid-2010 as part of our $153 million redevelopment of that hospital, which will also see an expanded emergency department and new operating theatres. Over 120 additional new beds, of course, will become available at the Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Hospital when it opens in 2016. That hospital will have 800 state-of-the-art beds available to people in South Australia. It is the best option for launching South Australia's health care system for the 21st century and will provide the very best care for all South Australians. Of course, we are spending $127 million at the QEH on its second stage, with the new 72-bed inpatient wing, a 580-berth car park and a childcare centre already completed.

So I believe we are effectively managing demand within our hospital system and I congratulate the doctors, nurses and others who work in our emergency departments for being part of the solution to this big issue. To reduce the demand on our hospitals over winter I think is completely astonishing. It is a great testament to the good work of the people in the health system in South Australia and I praise them for it, but we have to do more and, as a government, we are committed to doing more.

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