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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-23 Daily Xml
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HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Health. What immediate action is the government taking to combat overcrowding in public hospital emergency departments? Two days ago on Monday 21 March, the Royal Adelaide Hospital emergency department was at 139 per cent capacity, the Flinders Medical Centre emergency department was at 148 per cent capacity and the Lyell McEwin Hospital emergency department was at 135 per cent capacity.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:56): The emergency departments of our hospitals are very busy places, let's not beat about the bush. They are very busy places.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The opposition asks questions and as soon as any member tries to answer, even if it is without hyperbole, without politics or without yelling, they just come up with the same barrage of senseless, abusing comments. If you want to have a discussion about emergency departments—you think it is important and you have asked questions about it—then at least listen to the answer. You may disagree with the answer—get up and debate it—but if you don't want to hear me, don't ask the question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for MacKillop, be quiet.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The member asked about busy emergency departments. It is true that from time to time emergency departments are very busy. That is why in 2007 we produced a state health care plan to provide us with capacity in our healthcare system right through to 2040.

Mr Williams: That was four years ago!

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: The state Health Care Plan was about providing additional capacity and about reducing demand for hospital services right through to 2040. The reason 2040 is important is because that is the year that the baby boomer generation stops putting pressure on our healthcare system, if I can put it in that way.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: This is a serious and important issue. We as a state, and it is the same—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Don't mock the answer, listen to what I am saying. You might disagree; you tell us what your solutions are. I am telling you what our solutions are. Our solution is to take a long-term approach to building infrastructure sufficient to make sure that over the next 30 years we have sufficient capacity in our hospitals for emergency care and for elective care. We are seeing real growth in demand on our emergency departments, so what are we doing to deal with that?

What we are doing is to build extra capacity at our hospitals, and I just highlighted some of the things that we are doing now to create extra capacity. So, we are building more capacity at the Flinders Medical Centre, and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital will have more capacity. Today I was at the Women's and Children's Hospital announcing a new ward that will be open by the end of this year, early next year. That is about putting in more capacity. We are rebuilding The Queen Elizabeth Hospital to get better capacity there; we are doing the same at Modbury—

Ms Chapman: What are you doing now?

The Hon. J.D. HILL: All of these things are happening now. We are building more capacity at Modbury Hospital. All of these things are happening now. Infrastructure is something that is required to give us capacity. Making the systems work better in the hospital is also required. That is why we are investing in more doctors and nurses. That is why we are having diagnostic services operating around the clock, so patients do not have to wait in emergency departments until a technician comes the next morning who can provide the service. We have put in place acute medical units associated with the emergency departments so there is extra bed capacity so patients do not have to wait in the emergency department.

There is a whole range of things that we are doing. There is no one single fix for this issue. This is something that is facing every government in the western world. It is happening right across Australia. It is particularly an issue in our state because we have an older population. As populations age, more and more demand is placed on hospital services. That is why we are building GP Plus healthcare centres. That is why we have got doctors going into a GP Super Clinic in Modbury, that is why we have got doctors going into a GP Plus healthcare centre in Elizabeth and that is why we are doing similar things in Marion.

All of this creates extra capacity outside of hospital so the lower category triage patients, categories 4 and 5, have other places to go. We know that, as a result of the Aldinga GP Plus being opened, with GP services being available after hours and on weekends, a large number of patients who would have otherwise gone to the Noarlunga Hospital now go to that hospital. All of that is happening now. As a result of that, we have seen a reduction in the growth of the number of people going to our hospitals. It is still growing and there is more that needs to be done, but we have seen a reduction in the number of people who are going to our hospitals.

It is very easy in opposition to score points and point to a busy hospital ward on a particular day, but it is incumbent on the opposition not to be a small target but to tell us what their target would be. How would they deal with these issues? How would they look after people in the emergency departments in our hospitals? How much money would they invest? How many hours would people have to wait under their plan if they were in government?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. The member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister is debating the answer.

The SPEAKER: The minister, I think, is about to wind up his answer.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I am, Madam Speaker, but I have to say that all through my answer, which was non-political and non-debating, I was interjected upon with claims that deserve to be answered. I make the point to the opposition that if they think a four-hour target for 95 per cent of patients to be seen and treated—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —is the wrong target, they should tell us how long they think people should be waiting in the emergency department.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Norwood, you are very noisy today. You are about to be warned. The Leader of the Opposition.

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