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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-10-16 Daily Xml
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Country Hospitals

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:51): My question is again to the minister representing the Minister for Health. Why has the government only started transferring patients from the metro area to country hospital beds this month, when the health minister promised that he would do so back in July?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:51): Assuming that the member opposite's comment about the Minister for Health's statement is accurate, I will go back and get an answer from him specifically on that. I am not aware of him having made that commitment, but if we were to set that aside for the moment, the gist of the question is why we have only recently started moving some patients from the metro area to the country area and didn't do it sooner. It might be that we had to make some improvements to the country hospitals after 16 years of a Labor government in charge. It might well be that we had to get on—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —and do some of the things that should have been done previously so that those patients could be moved. Let me tell you, the moving of these patients—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Kaurna and member for Reynell!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —from metropolitan Adelaide to country hospitals has been an outstanding success. I haven't got the entire list in front of me; I did actually receive it from the Minister for Health a few days ago, but I'm sorry, I don't have it here with me now.

The number of patients who are now in care in country hospitals all around South Australia and who would, under the previous government, have been in care in metropolitan Adelaide, is very impressive. It is impressive in many ways, not only because of the number of people involved but with regard to the wide range of hospitals in the wide geographic areas of the state that are able to contribute to the number of people in the hospitals who are actually getting fantastic care. To be able to free up some of the beds in the Adelaide metropolitan area is very important. There are a lot of very strong, positive things.

On a personal note, as a country MP, it always seems that country people are expected to go to the city for a lot of things. Many times that is fair, but there is no reason at all that city people, on occasion, can't come to the country to get some service, and it is very good service we have to offer them in country hospitals around South Australia.

We are getting on with the job. Just like the former government has disavowed themselves of their own Transforming Health policy under the former minister for health, now Leader of the Opposition, we also have nothing to do with their policy. We are getting on and doing the job. We are looking at the whole state in its entirety, looking at all patients, wherever they come from, and making sure that they get the best help, support and medical care possible. Also, we are looking after the staff, the staff all across the state, taking away some of the stress from the metropolitan staff and giving some of the people in country areas—

Mr Hughes interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Giles is warned.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —the benefit of actively caring for people, which is after all what people in the health industry want to do—doctors, nurses, allied carers. A whole range of services is provided. They want to care for people. So we are doing everything we can. The Minister for Health is doing an outstanding job, an absolutely outstanding job, looking after South Australian patients—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —looking after the South Australians who work—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —in our health system and making the best use possible of all the facilities that we have across the state for all South Australians.

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna and the member for Reynell, I call to order. The member for West Torrens has the call.

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