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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-10-18 Daily Xml
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Women's and Children's Hospital

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:24): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. What is the estimate on how many patients per day will be put on golf buggies across the pedestrian bridge in the elements, transferred between the new Women's and Children's Hospital and the RAH? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order under 134, which I will hear from the Leader of Government Business.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is called to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, there was substantial argument and debate within that question, and I ask the member to rephrase.

The SPEAKER: Very well. I invite the member to rephrase the question.

Mrs HURN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. What advice has the government received on how many patients per day will be transferred between the new Women's and Children's Hospital and the RAH? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mrs HURN: On 12 October 2022, the minister explained on ABC radio that an outdoor pedestrian bridge would be built to enable patients and staff to transfer between the two sites. The opposition and other clinical experts understand that they will be put on golf buggies across a pedestrian bridge to battle the elements.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the minister, I observe that there was a—

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There was a deal of argument in the question. I am going to permit it on this occasion, but I remind the member for Schubert, who is on two warnings, of the standing orders.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:25): I will certainly check the transcript, but I suggest that there has been some significant misquoting of me in that recollection. We have been very clear that we are going to build—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —a women's and children's hospital that has the capacity to look after the patients—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is warned.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —it needs to. A key part of our proposal is not only 70 more beds than were being proposed by those opposite but also to build a new women's ICU inside the Women's and Children's Hospital to make sure that we can care for people inside the hospital—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —to make sure that women and their babies will be able to be cared for within the same hospital, and that is a proposal that has had overwhelming support from the clinical community at the Women's and Children's Hospital. We have had huge support in terms of this outcome—

Mr Patterson: Why did you have to spend a million dollars advertising then?

The SPEAKER: Member for Morphett!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —that is going to deliver an outcome for the future of this state, rather than a short-sighted proposal that was worked on for four years by those opposite without one sod being turned—

Ms Pratt: Tell us about the bridge.

The SPEAKER: Member for Frome!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —on that site. There was over $50 million spent but not one sod turned on that site. We are going to build a hospital that has more beds. Their proposal was going to have how many additional beds? One extra—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —paediatric overnight bed.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, there is a point of order—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Cheltenham and the member for Hartley are called to order. The member for Morialta on a point of order.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Thank you, sir. The question was specific to the advice about the transfer of patients between the two sites over the bridge—walking or golf buggies—so substance, standing order 98.

The SPEAKER: There is some merit in what the member for Morialta says. I will bring the minister back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: You are very generous, sir, in suggesting merit. The key point is that we want to care for people inside the hospital. Of course, a key part of this hospital proposal is to keep within the biomedical precinct, and that is really important because of the connections between the sites and the ability for people to work between different sites. That is also going to be important in terms of making sure that this ICU works between the Royal Adelaide Hospital and has a cross-utilisation of clinicians between the two hospitals.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Of course, we also have the South Australian—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Florey!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —Health and Medical Research Institute, the second SAHMRI building that is going to have the proton therapy built in it, the University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide in this precinct as well, so there is a significant biomedical precinct, a world-class precinct, that will now have the Women's and Children's Hospital in it.

Part of the project will be pedestrian access between the sites. There is going to be a pedestrian bridge between the sites. Our desire is to care for patients inside the hospital, not the spurious suggestions that the member opposite was suggesting. We are going to make sure that we can care for people inside this hospital, but clearly there will be people who will work between the sites and commute between the sites, so part of the proposal plan that has been put forward—and we have been very clear about this—is to have a bridge across the railyards for pedestrian access that is five metres wide, so a significant width of bridge, and 65 metres long, but this is a—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —pedestrian bridge—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, please be seated. Member for Schubert, you are on three warnings and we are 15 minutes into question time. The member for Wright knows better. The member for Badcoe knows much better.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Thank you, sir. I of course will not respond to interjections. People in my electorate know that when you are delivering infrastructure projects you need to build for the future, not like we've seen under Liberal governments of the past, who built the one-way expressway to my electorate which for an hour and a half was closed for one half of the day, an hour and a half at night-time to switch from one side to the other. It was the laughing stock of the world, and their proposal for the new women's and kids hospital was for a similar one-way expressway of a hospital that would not have had the additional capacity that this state needs for the future.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Schubert on a supplementary and then the member for Elder.

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