House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-28 Daily Xml

Contents

ENTERPRISE PATIENT ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Has the government completed a cost-benefit analysis for the $408 million EPAS system's electronic health records and, if so, will this be made available to the parliament and to the public?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:22): I will seek advice on what is available to give the public and what is available to the parliament. The EPAS (Enterprise Patient Administration System) is absolutely critical for the running of a modern health system in our state. If the opposition is opposed to this, that is fine; they can develop their own policy initiatives, but I would be interested to know what the opposition's policy on information technology is, what their information technology policy is, in particular in relation to the health system. So, it is not to do this, Madam Speaker, now we know. We would be back to paper and quill if the opposition was in government. EPAS is an important system. It is on track to deliver a modern information technology system to our state.

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order: the question was specifically about whether there has been a cost-benefit analysis done by the government for this $408 million expenditure and will it be made available.

The SPEAKER: Your question was clear enough. The minister's answer related to the question. Minister, have you finished?

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Yes.

The SPEAKER: I have said before, if the minister's answer is relevant to the question, you cannot demand a yes or no answer or an answer that you choose.