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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-09 Daily Xml
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REPATRIATION GENERAL HOSPITAL

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (14:37): My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Can the minister tell the house about the new age rehab clinics, 4th Generation clinics, which were opened last week at the Repatriation General Hospital?

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) (14:37): I thank the member for this important question. Last Friday, the federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler MP, and the parliamentary secretary to the Premier, the member for Taylor, opened the $6 million state-of-the-art rehabilitation service at the Repatriation General Hospital funded by both the federal and state Labor governments.

The service, known as 4th Generation clinics, will integrate teaching and research into a clinical service where older people and those with a disability can use health professionals all at the same location. The clinics have high-tech equipment to assess walking, falling and driving and are equipped with new robotic equipment, video games, simulators and a gait laboratory.

Older people and those living with a disability will be able to use therapists, rehabilitation physicians, geriatricians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, psychologists and dieticians for assessment and treatment. In one visit, people will be able to receive assessments from doctors and therapists about conditions that affect their functioning, such as falls, walking and their ability to drive.

I am told that the guest speaker at the opening, Annette, shared her life-changing experience of having to care for her husband Gerry when he had a stroke. For Annette and Gerry, having a supportive and co-ordinated rehabilitation service is important in helping Gerry's recovery.

The 4th Generation clinics will provide a new centre for excellence in the delivery of team-based recovery for older and disabled South Australians, offering new approaches to clinical care. The integrated model of care is a prototype for the future and will help more people with injuries who need rehabilitation, as well as older people, to live independently in their home.

Funding is also being provided by the government to place teaching spaces into the clinics, which will be managed by Flinders University. We can all be pleased that Adelaide is now home to one of the most advanced rehabilitation centres in Australia. I understand that the Repatriation General Hospital was the first public hospital in Australia to offer this high-level technology.

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