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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-02-07 Daily Xml
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HEALTH DEPARTMENT

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:29): My question is directed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Minister, in noting the ministerial statement you have just made, I am wondering whether you could outline your goals and priorities for the portfolio in line with the review that you have just announced?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:29): Can I thank the member for Ashford for the question. If I am not wrong, the member for Ashford has served as minister for ageing in the past, and she has had a very long interest in such issues.

When the Premier asked me be the Minister for Health and Ageing I eagerly accepted. I have a long interest in the science of health and, of course, the ethical issues that are involved in the care of people, and when you have as many kids as I do, you do tend to spend your fair share of time sitting in emergency waiting rooms with them. I often reflect on how lucky we are to have such a high standard of care.

South Australia has the best health system in the country with the highest number of available beds, the most nurses per head of population and the lowest national rate for the number of patients who had to wait more than a year for elective surgery. But, of course, as our population ages, demand for health services will continue to grow. Funds available to state governments simply are not keeping pace with this increasing demand.

My first priority is to provide South Australians with the standard of health care that they have come to expect, while also working with hospitals and health care providers to find efficiencies to meet the needs of an ageing population, and this is my greatest challenge. While over the last decade revenue has grown at about 2 per cent a year, the health budget has grown by about 8 per cent per year. Where health represented about 25 per cent of our state budget when this government first came to office, it now takes up about 30 per cent.

This sort of growth cannot be sustained forever. I am not going to rush into simple or quick fix solutions. Earlier I announced the first modest changes to the department to help achieve these goals. It is crucial that no major services to the public are compromised, and all decisions that we make will be made through thorough discussion with health employees and with the public.

I have already visited all of our major metropolitan hospitals and I have begun visiting hospitals and health services in country South Australia. I am keen to meet as many health employees as possible to see firsthand the great work that they do.

Can I also acknowledge the great work of the former minister, the member for Kaurna, and I hope that I might be able to match his detailed and intimate knowledge of health and, of course, his passion for delivering services. I look forward to serving the people of South Australia as the Minister for Health and Ageing and the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

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