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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-09-15 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

HEALTH SYSTEM

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:14): The grieve today is really living up to its name as a grieve because during the last sitting week, 26 to 28 July, I was not in this place. I was away on behalf of the parliament—not the opposition, the government, the lower house or the upper house, but the parliament—at the centenary of commonwealth parliamentary associations meeting in London. During question time on Thursday the 28th, the Minister for Health in answer to a question from the member for Frome pointed out the fact that I was not in this place. He made an attack on me during the election campaign saying that I was hiding. He knew that I was ill in hospital. He made an attack on me, or indicated that I was taking time off when I was actually representing the parliament in London at the CPA conference, which—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Dr McFETRIDGE: I hear noises from the other side, obviously being disparaging about the role of the CPA. I would suggest that that particular member talk to his colleagues who have been to CPA conferences. In fact, I think that that particular member was at the Kenyan CPA conference in Africa the year before.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Dr McFETRIDGE: Minister Hill really does need to stick to the facts and observe the protocols in this place. During that answer to the question from the member for Frome about country hospitals, the Minister for Health said that I was being misleading, mischievous, irresponsible and scaremongering in relation to claims about country hospitals. I had said at a meeting in the Mid North that there were proposals; that the government did plan to close country hospitals and downgrade other country hospitals.

The minister can deny that as much as he likes, but I was not the one who put into the Sustainable Budget Commission measure No. ID5735CE (that is, Chief Executive) Priority 3, which reads:

Closure of low volume country hospitals. Closure of up to 17 low volume hospitals located in rural South Australia.

I was not the one who put into the Sustainable Budget Commission measure No. ID5905CE Priority No. 23 'Country Health SA Service Review':

...the potential to close...reduce funding to an additional 20 country hospitals.

That was what I was referring to. I just do not believe this minister—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Dr McFETRIDGE: —and his assurances that he will not close country hospitals or downgrade them. We saw what happened in 2008 when this minister brought out the absolutely atrocious Country Health Plan. There was overwhelming rejection by country South Australians, as there should have been, and that plan was pulled. I just do not trust this government. I do not trust the things that they say, and South Australians need to be aware of what they had in this Sustainable Budget Commission because they need to watch this minister very, very carefully.

I am very glad that he has put on the record in Hansard that he will not be closing country hospitals. He does not say about downgrading them—not that I see. If that is the case I would like to hear that as well, but just do not believe this minister. To see how poorly this minister has been working as the Minister for Health in this state, just go and look at the dashboards that are on the website now.

I thank the adviser who advised the minister to put those dashboards up on the website. You have got the elective surgery dashboards, you have got the inpatient dashboards and you have got the emergency department dashboards. At 1 o'clock today I had a look at the emergency department dashboards. Every one of them, apart from the Women's and Children's Hospital's Paediatric Department (which is the kids, and they have the Women's there as well), was either in the red zone or the white zone.

Just remember that when you are in the red zone that is 95 to 125 per cent capacity. The white zone is 125 per cent plus capacity. Every one of our public hospitals, apart from the Women's and Children's, was in the red or the white zones. Most of them were in the white zone. Our EDs were over full. I am surprised that there is no ambulance ramping today, and I hope that ambulance ramping does not become the norm here in South Australia as it is in some other states.

In relation to the inpatient dashboard, if you go and have a look at the intensive care beds, the intensive treatment beds and critical care beds you will find that they use slightly different parameters there but a lot of those are in the white zone which means that they are over 100 per cent full. There are days when there is not an intensive care bed available in South Australia, and I had doctors telling me this the other day from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

It is an absolute disgrace. Today we have got the minister saying that there are going to be more mental health beds. Well, if he has a look at the dashboards all of them are in the white zone. He said that half of them were under capacity—so, half of them were over capacity. When I looked at 1300 hours, at 1 o'clock, they were all in the white zone. The elective surgery dashboard talks about the waiting times—365 day waiting times are included in there, and you will get patients that are fitted into those zones.

Let us see what happens when the expert committee brings in its evaluation, not of the time from seeing a specialist to surgery but the time from GP referral to surgery. There will be 16,000 more come onto that waiting list.

Time expired.

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