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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-09 Daily Xml
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Gumeracha Emergency Department

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (15:29): Since becoming the local member for Schubert, I have had great pride in advocating for many things for my local community, and one of those things is the reopening of the Gumeracha emergency department. It has been such a critical element of the health services that are provided in the northern Adelaide Hills for such a long period of time.

At the start of the year, we received some advice from the local health network about the status of this emergency department, and it really did outline what the out-of-hours care would look like in Gumeracha. What we now know is that we will have an out-of-hours clinic with a nurse and with virtual support from a doctor. That will be set up between 4pm and 8pm, Monday to Friday, and over the weekends it will be open from 10am until 4pm.

This is a really positive step forward for the local community, and I genuinely believe that the local working group has done an extraordinary job in identifying a solution to provide some of this out-of-hours care, because when you live in the regions you do want the peace of mind and the comfort that, if you do need some assistance, you have somewhere to go. I am sure, though, that many people find it disappointing that, despite the fact that Labor made reference before the election to ending the closure of the emergency department post COVID, this has now seemingly been taken off the table.

When this was first announced it was welcomed by the community with, I genuinely think, a cautious sense of optimism. But, following a community meeting in Gumeracha that really did outline some of the intricacies and some of the detail about what was and was not able to happen at this ED, I think there are some concerns about the future.

I would like to advise the house about some of the detail of the out-of-hours approach. You still have to call and make an appointment between those hours. You can be seen for things like minor wounds, sporting injuries, infections, toothaches, rashes, eye conditions and urgent prescriptions; however, no ambulances will be accepted, and no X-rays, no blood tests, no drug or alcohol issues, no plasters and no COVID patients.

I think perhaps the most concerning element is the fact that no child under the age of 10 is able to present to the emergency department. This has been one of the catalyst driving forces for the reopening of the ED. There will be a working group meeting in six months' time, so six months after this has been in existence there will be a meeting of the working group to really reflect on these types of services. I do hope that in time we can continue to elevate what services are provided.

However, it is clear that one of the main challenges in reopening the emergency department in Gumeracha has to do with our workforce. We are no orphan in South Australia when it comes to some of the workforce challenges that we are facing. I believe that here in South Australia we must do more to ensure that we can attract and retain a very strong core base of workforce because this is exactly what people right across the nation are doing. If we look across the border, in Victoria they are throwing everything, including the kitchen sink, at this issue, and they are going above and beyond when it comes to attracting and retaining a local workforce.

In Victoria, if you are a doctor or a nurse, you get your HECS fees covered. You get a $5,000 bonus sign-up fee to join the public system. There is a $10,000 relocation payment, which is $12,000 if you are in the country. Since recently, there is a $40,000 payment to GPs, which covers not only the gap between being a GP and going into other services within the health system but also your final year of training.

I am genuinely saddened that here in South Australia we are so behind the eight ball. We need a government that is proactively looking at incentives to attract people to this state to keep our frontline workforce strong and solid and healthy. I know that these are the exact types of things we need to do if Gumeracha hospital is to have its ED operating at its greatest capacity. So I am urging the government to really step up to the task here, to look across the border to Victoria, to go through it with a forensic fine-tooth comb and to see what these incentives can do for the regional workforce.

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