House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-11-18 Daily Xml

Contents

ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Health.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Dr McFETRIDGE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. What is the impact on delivery of services to patients as a result of the government's decision to take at least four clinical directors from the Royal Adelaide Hospital to sit on advisory committees for the rail yards hospital? The opposition understands that at least one of those four clinical directors is an anaesthetist and has been seconded to an advisory role for three days a week.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:48): The sheer effrontery of this question is staggering. The Leader of the Opposition asks questions about 'listen to the experts', and I gave advice about what the experts were saying. We have now involved a number of experts in the design process of the new hospital, and they are criticising that. Of course, when—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Morphett has a point of order.

Dr McFETRIDGE: Relevance—the question is specifically: what is the impact on the delivery of services of taking these people away?

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Health has made his point, and he now needs to talk about delivery of services.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: What is the effect on services? If the shadow spokesman thinks that when we take an anaesthetist out of the hospital nobody is there to perform anaesthesia on patients who need it, he is seriously deluded. Of course, if somebody is taken out, they are backfilled, as would occur in any organisation. If you take an expert out—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Health.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: If an expert is taken out, then somebody else will take on that role. We obviously do that quite frequently. If somebody is on holidays, if somebody is ill or if somebody goes on a conference, they have to be backfilled. This is an equivalent set of arrangements.