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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-07-04 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Modbury Hospital

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (15:27): I am very proud to be part of a government that is committed to restoring key services to Modbury Hospital. Modbury Hospital is very important to my local community, and it is very important to the north-east in general. In fact, over the course of the campaign, many residents raised with me the fact that so many chose to live in the area because they believed they would be living near a hospital that would provide the services they would need if they were in trouble.

I myself live only five minutes from the hospital and have used it, along with my family. I must say, I could not be happier with the work of the staff there, including the doctors and nurses, who do a fantastic job in a system that is well and truly letting them down. However, the Marshall Liberal government has committed $110 million to the restoration of key services, including a high dependency unit; an extended care unit; an acute surgical ward to increase the range of surgeries that can be performed; an acute medical ward, which enables patients to stay longer to support their recovery; a purpose-built palliative care ward; and also funding to refurbish the hospital's general infrastructure.

People who may have been there in recent times may have noticed scaffolding being set up around the hospital. That was to catch bits of the façade that were crumbling and falling off and, obviously, to protect people from wandering around below. Clearly, they were being let down by the previous Labor government.

Shortly after being elected, I visited Modbury Hospital, along with the Premier, the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, the member for King and also the member for Florey. We met with senior clinicians and other people across the northern Adelaide local hospital network to discuss our plans about restoring services to the hospital. This is in quite severe contrast to the previous Labor government, which was cutting services from Modbury Hospital. I must say that it is disappointing to see, in recent times, that the member for Wright is still championing the cause of Transforming Health spin and still not listening to the wishes of the people of the north-east.

In fact, according to the member, the people of the north-east have apparently been hoodwinked, as though they have been somehow tricked. I am not in the business of insulting the intelligence of the people of the north-east because I think they know exactly what was going on. I think that they could see right through all the spin of the previous Labor government, and they are still seeing through the spin of the member for Wright.

People saw the previous government stripping services out of Modbury Hospital, and this was despite the Liberal Party's opposition and despite opposition from the local community. Throughout the last term of parliament, though, the previous government was acting like, 'There's nothing to see here. There's really nothing to be worried about. We're actually upgrading the hospital.' The problem was that so many residents knew that was not the case because they had experienced it for themselves. They had seen what had been taken away.

Then, of course, as is so often the case when it is five minutes to midnight, the previous government suddenly promised rivers of gold for Modbury Hospital and then wanted to be thanked for it. It is like setting the house on fire and then trying to claim credit for someone else calling the fire brigade. Nothing was actually ever delivered. The only thing that was delivered was taxpayer-funded advertising: shiny brochures that were stuffed into letterboxes, including mine, the plastic wrap on the Messenger newspaper and various digital displays, whether it was in Tea Tree Plaza or on bus stops. Of course, the people of the north-east saw right through this spin.

Where the previous government cut services, we are bringing services back. Where the previous government failed to consult properly with people at the coalface, we are working with both clinicians and other professionals to implement our plan. The Minister for Health and Wellbeing is working diligently in partnership with health professionals, patients and the community to deliver on a commitment to provide better services for the people of the north-east—fixing up the mess that Labor created.

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