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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-23 Daily Xml
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Question Time

FLINDERS MEDICAL CENTRE

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:20): My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the minister confirm that since 31 May 2011 the Flinders Medical Centre has had a policy to use treatment rooms as ward accommodation for patients?

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) (14:20): I am not sure what the member is relying on. I take with a grain of salt anything that the opposition says about anything that happens in our health system. They were caught out badly yesterday—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order. What is your point of order?

Mr WILLIAMS: The purpose of question time is for the minister to answer questions—

The SPEAKER: The minister is answering questions, sit down.

Mr WILLIAMS: —not to question the motives behind—

The SPEAKER: Sit down! There is no point of order. Minister.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: As I was saying I think I am entitled to take with a grain of salt anything that the opposition puts to me about health.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister is impugning improper motive on the part of the opposition; it's an outrage.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I think the minister has made his point and he needs to be a little bit careful. Minister, can you finish your answer.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I am being careful, Madam Speaker, because what is put to me as a fact and asking me to comment on I am questioning, because we know from yesterday how badly embarrassed the Leader of the Opposition was. She was set up by her shadow health minister and she was badly caught out.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I will happily get a report, Madam Speaker. In relation to the Flinders Medical Centre, the emergency department there is undergoing a transformation. As I indicated publicly at the time that we started the works back in October—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Norwood!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: As I said at the time back in October when we commenced the building works there, there would be difficult periods while those works were happening because we were running the emergency department while we were undertaking building works there to expand it. The end result will be a much bigger emergency department.

Mr Williams: You don't even know what is going on.

The SPEAKER: Order, member for MacKillop!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I could say so many things but that would just incite the member for MacKillop. I understand exactly what is going on in our hospitals: we are building capacity so that we have sufficient capacity in the future to look after the patients that we know are coming through our system. There are obviously transitional issues while we are doing that building work at the emergency department of Flinders Medical Centre. That work, I am advised, will be completed before time and so will be in better shape by the next winter season.

There are some incredible pressures there at the moment. We have seen reports in the paper about ambulances and the like, but the staff there are doing a superb job and they are managing in the best way they can in the circumstances. So, if they are making interim arrangements because they are adapting what they have to suit the needs of the patients I congratulate them on that. Anybody who says the opposite just does not understand the way our health system works. I will happily get a report for the member.

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