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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-04-30 Daily Xml
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MOUNT GAMBIER

The Hon. R.J. McEWEN (Mount Gambier) (14:32): Sorry, Mr Speaker; I was too busy reading to the bitter end. I will send it down when I have finished with it. My question is to the Minister for Health. What is the government doing to expand services at the Mount Gambier Hospital? What is the minister's reaction to the recent claims regarding health services in Mount Gambier?

Mr Speaker, you would be aware, as we all were, that last week the Deputy Leader of the Opposition had to come back into the house and apologise for a concocted story around a kidney transplant. She also sent that story to the media and, I might add, failed then to withdraw that press release from the media, which has made them particularly angry. However, she knows no shame because then she made another claim, that claim being that the budget for the Mount Gambier Hospital, particularly for elective surgery, had been savagely cut.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:33): I thank the member for Mount Gambier for his question, and I am reminded by it of that great rock and roll band, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. It strikes me that the Leader of the Opposition should be known as Frank Zappa because he is absolutely sitting next to the mother of invention.

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: What was the name of that album—Thick as a Brick? Didn't they have an album called Thick as a Brick?

The Hon. J.D. HILL: They may well have. That was Jethro Tull, I think. In The Border Watch on 17 April, the Leader of the Opposition wrongly claimed that elective surgery could be 'slashed to the bone', as she put it, at Mount Gambier Hospital. This was, of course, only one week after, as the member for Mount Gambier reminded us, she wrongly claimed in this house that a patient had missed out on a kidney transplant. As is often the case, the truth is somewhat different from the deputy's claims.

The deputy says a kidney is wasted because a slack ambulance officer caused a man to miss a plane and consequently miss out on surgery. The truth is: ambulance officers work very hard, a man does catch the plane, he receives surgery and no kidney is wasted. The deputy leader says surgery could be cut. The truth, in relation to Mount Gambier Hospital, amongst other hospitals, is that surgery is increasing. Once again, the deputy leader demonstrates a pattern of behaviour involving recklessness with the truth. The truth, I am advised by the hardworking staff at Mount Gambier Hospital, is that they have already performed almost 100 more elective surgeries this year compared to this time last year—more elective surgery.

I remind the house that last financial year our major metropolitan hospitals undertook a record 39,962 operations. This was 4,376 (12 per cent) more compared to the last year of the former Liberal government. Today, I can announce that, as of 31 March this year, we were 1,325 procedures ahead of where we were at the same time in 2008. That is almost 5 per cent more surgery performed.

The increase in surgery at Mount Gambier can largely be attributed to having—and this is to the first part of the member's question—10 procedural resident specialists and two registrars, of whom three are dedicated resident general surgeons, who are doing a great job of getting surgery to people who need it.

In this term of government, the past three years, the Rann Labor government has appointed at Mount Gambier Hospital—it is worth going through the additions—a director of emergency services; four general practice supervisors to provide support and teaching to the junior medical staff in accidents and emergency; two full-time paediatricians; two specialist physicians, with the recruitment of a third underway; a resident psychiatrist; and we are currently recruiting two specialist anaesthetists.

We have also opened a coordinated cancer care network, based in the hospital, and an intern program with six Australian graduate interns on the program this year, three of whom are South-East residents who are expected to stay in the region at the completion of their training. So, that is terrific news.

Importantly, we have allocated land for the construction of the Flinders University Rural Clinical School and involvement in first-class teaching and training programs across both campuses. We have also recently started paediatric surgery at the hospital, and we are currently undertaking a $400,000 upgrade of the sterilisation facilities within the theatre complex and developing a hospital-based urological surgical service.

I would like to take this opportunity to reassure the residents of Mount Gambier and the South-East that, despite whatever the deputy may claim, there have been no cuts at the Mount Gambier Hospital, and no cuts are planned.

The deputy leader's claims about health services in Mount Gambier are a baseless political attack designed to get support for the Liberal's local candidate. For the Liberals to be playing politics like this with people's health is just appalling. I understand that the local candidate, who exhibits some free spirit from time to time, is appalled by the deputy leader's continuing intervention in his campaign.

The Mount Gambier community deserves better from the opposition and its local candidate. The deputy leader has demonstrated a willingness to needlessly alarm the residents of that city and slander the hardworking staff of the hospital and ambulance service in order to score cheap political points. The opposition has a duty to the people of South Australia to act in an honest, responsible and accountable manner. Both the leader and the deputy leader time and time again have failed to live up to this standard.

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