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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-23 Daily Xml
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FLINDERS MEDICAL CENTRE

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:31): My question is again to the Minister for Health. Is it intended that the treatment rooms at the Flinders Medical Centre be used as ward accommodation for patient stays exceeding 24 hours?

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) (14:31): As I said in answer to the first question, the pressures on our hospitals from time to time become quite intense. We have had a particularly difficult winter. The winter onset really—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Morphett!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: We've had a particularly busy winter, and the pressure on the hospitals has been great. The winter onset really came in March this year rather than later in the year, so there has been quite a lot of pressure on the hospital system. As members would know—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —all of our metropolitan hospitals have strategies in place to upgrade and expand the capacity. We have opened 200 extra beds since we have been in government, and we have another 250 that will be opened up over the course of the building work that is underway. So, from time to time, decisions are made which mean there is a use of rooms which were designed for another purpose. That is perfectly acceptable as long as it is done safely, because the alternative is not to have a place for a patient who needs it.

I think members should understand that this is done in a safe way by the hospitals to make sure that patients are accommodated. You cannot overturn the backlog of beds as quickly as we would like. We have to build new infrastructure. What would the Liberals do? Of course they would ignore that fact. Their policy was about privatisation. They cut hundreds of beds out of our system when they were in government. And in relation to the Royal Adelaide Hospital they would have done—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —nothing except build a big tower to make the emergency department unworkable.

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