House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-09-25 Daily Xml

Contents

Emergency Departments

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:21): My question is to the Minister for Health. How can the quick look emergency department triage model proposed for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital work in practice when it assumes a halving of triage times to below two minutes, even through basic patient registration and blood pressure tests often cannot be done within this time frame?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:22): Sir, this is something that is being looked at by senior clinicians—not by me; by actual experts in emergency medicine—who are looking at how we can get better flow of patients through the emergency department. I understand that the model is based upon—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: The vet here thinks he knows everything about emergency medicine.

The SPEAKER: The member for Morphett—

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: The simple fact is—

The SPEAKER: The member for Morphett is warned.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: The simple fact is it is predicated upon patients being seen quickly and being given an initial assessment so that they can be sent to the appropriate area of the hospital for whatever they are presenting with, but it is something that it is being worked at and being extensively consulted on with clinicians who work in the area and experts who work in the area. It is a basis upon which consultation is happening.