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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-11-28 Daily Xml
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BAROSSA VALLEY HOSPITAL SERVICES

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (15:52): My last grieve, number 736—I am not sure, but that is a guess. I could not leave this place—and I think you all know the subject I am going to speak about—without one final time raising the need for a new Barossa Valley hospital. I am sad that in my time representing the region—although they have lobbied strongly—a new health facility is yet to be constructed. If only the Liberal government had been returned in 2002, it would be there now.

The Barossa Valley and surrounding regions are currently serviced by two hospitals: the Angaston District Hospital built in 1910, and Tanunda War Memorial Hospital built in 1953. Both hospitals, but particularly the Angaston hospital, are extremely old and are not up to the standard expected of a modern health facility.

I began lobbying the minister for human services, the Hon. Dean Brown, way back in 1988 for a new health facility for the region. In November 1999, the Hon. Dean Brown announced that Reusch Park in Nuriootpa would be the site for the new Barossa hospital and planning had commenced. Then in May 2001 the Liberal government announced that a new facility would be built at an approximate cost of $12 million, with construction work to start in 2004-05, with completion in 2005-06.

Cabinet agreed that the funds for the construction would be provided in the capital works program from 2004 to 2006. These plans were scrapped when the Rann government came to power in 2002. In the 2008 budget, the South Australian state government pledged $70,000 for a business case into the new health facility for the Barossa. The Outline Business Case Barossa Health Service Country Health SA report was released on 8 February 2011, almost three years later, and on page 7 recommended that:

A new, purpose-built integrated health facility incorporating community based, allied health and acute care services is developed at Tanunda, in close proximity to the Health and Leisure Centre, forming a health and wellness precinct for the Barossa area.

The recommendation is for a new 40-bed facility, including all the services currently offered, plus chemotherapy, dialysis and rehabilitation services. The business case acknowledges that current facilities are below standard—and I quote again:

The facilities and theatres are dated, and the accident and emergency areas are cramped and do not meet standards. There is not enough room for all the community services and administration staff at these two sites, so some have been moved off site to lease premises at Nuriootpa. This has resulted in further duplication of resources and dislocation of staff and programs. (Page 4)

The Barossa and Districts Health Advisory Council, which reported directly to then health minister, John Hill, and currently to the new minister, were scathing of the current facilities in its 2008-09 annual report. It stated:

The current facilities [in the Barossa Valley] lack the flexibility to meet current and future service demands.

Furthermore, the Barossa and Districts Health Advisory Council listed the following service delivery facility conditions issues:

there is no capacity to maintain, at a minimum, existing levels of care for the growing local community and broader district;

operating across three sites impedes the ability to deliver patient-centred models of care;

there is no capacity to expand elective surgery, acute care, primary health care, and community-based services to meet future needs;

the existing facilities are in average to poor condition and do not meet current health care quality, safety and security standards, which impacts on the operation efficiency of the health service;

access and egress across the three service sites is problematic;

there is poor service connectivity across the three sites, resulting in duplication of facilities and support services;

organisational dislocation, staffing deficiencies exist across the three sites;

IT connectivity across the three sites is poor; and

significant sustainment expenditure is required for asset refurbishment, with an expected extension of life of less than 15 years.

Currently, the Barossa health service is operating across three sites: two hospital sites, with an admin site at Nuriootpa. Operating at three sites is inefficient and impedes the health service's ability to provide the best care for clients.

This will be my last speech in this house, but it will not be the last time you will hear about the Barossa Valley hospital. I do pay a tribute again to all those people who work in that hospital and provide the wonderful service they do in a very old and dilapidated facility.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Mitchell.

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