House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-15 Daily Xml

Contents

FLINDERS MEDICAL CENTRE

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:26): My question is again to the Minister for Health and Ageing. If the head of Flinders emergency department resigned when she could not guarantee an end to ramping at that hospital, why won't the minister resign since he can't guarantee an end to ramping at the hospital?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:26): It is highly speculative as to the reason that Di King resigned from that position. There have, as I have said, been continuing public issues about the operations in relation to turnaround times for ambulances at the hospital. On many occasions the ambulance officers, as I understand it, have looked after the patients inside the emergency department, and on a couple of occasions last week there were allegations that they were looking after patients—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Do I have to put up with this, Madam Speaker? She can ask me any number of questions you like and I will do my best to answer them, but if she continues to ask questions—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will be heard in silence.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: It just shows an appalling lack of manners, apart from anything else, and it puts me off track. I was in the middle of something. The review will determine what the issues are, I would hope, and we will correct it. What we want to do is make sure the emergency department there and the ambulance officers work collaboratively. They are part of the one system. There are obviously some issues about how they work together around the management when the emergency department is very busy. I acknowledge that and I acknowledge it is difficult for all of the staff, and we want to work that through. Dr King made her own decisions.

The SPEAKER: Supplementary question.