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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-10-16 Daily Xml
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Hospital Beds

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:29): My question is to the Premier. Following the Premier telling the house today that beds are reopened when they are needed, why have the 41 beds closed at Flinders and Hampstead late last year not reopened at all during this year's worst ramping on record?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:29): I have already outlined to the house the different beds that have already been reopened since we came to government. Those decisions regarding individual hospitals and rehab centres are decisions that clinicians make. We have also worked very hard—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We have also worked very hard on a range of other initiatives that will increase the capacity of our hospitals. I speak most specifically of the implementation of the priority care centres in South Australia. I think this is an excellent initiative, where I am now told that the people—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —that I am now—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: For some reason, those opposite are not interested in trying to give patients the very best service that they can. With the priority care centres that have been established, it gives alternatives for our ambulances to divert away from emergency departments to priority care centres. Can I say this—

Ms Cook interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hurtle Vale can leave for the remainder of question time.

The honourable member for Hurtle Vale having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Can I say this: when we spoke to people who have gone to a priority care centre, they have been extraordinarily satisfied with the service that they have received—prompt service.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: It has been welcomed by ambulance officers in South Australia. Of course, it relieves the pressure on our emergency departments, which we have inherited from the previous government. We have also worked very hard on our home hospital pilot. This is again another initiative that we are putting into place—criteria-led discharge, changing the methodology so that patients can be discharged earlier, faster, speedier, so that we can free up beds within our hospitals so that we can—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! Member for Kaurna!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —make sure that they are available to the people who most need them. We have also been doing work to put geriatricians into the emergency departments.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Again, good results from this, and a much greater use of mobile X-rays. All these things are making a contribution to relieving the pressure on our emergency departments and on our hospital beds in South Australia. There's still plenty more work to do, a massive amount of work to do, but I am absolutely 100 per cent confident, with the additional resources that we are putting in and the different areas of focus that we are achieving—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —within the hospital system, that we are making adequate progress in this area.

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