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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-04 Daily Xml
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Health Services

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (15:30): I stand on this side of the chamber proud to be a member of the Malinauskas Labor government, a government that was elected just over 12 months ago.

Today, I want to take the opportunity to speak briefly about health and some of the developments of particular benefit to residents of the electorate of Torrens, of which I am a passionate representative, as well as to other residents of the north and north-east. Unlike the former Liberal government, we actually have comprehensive plans. I know that the incredibly dedicated Minister for Health and Wellbeing and his hardworking team are committed to doing everything they can to deliver significant outcomes for the South Australian community.

We all know that when there are not enough hospital beds patients get stuck in the emergency department waiting for a bed to become available, and this means that our EDs fill up and patients must then wait in an ambulance on the ramp until such time as an ED bed becomes available. To assist in addressing this issue, building more acute hospital capacity is crucial.

On being elected to government just over 12 months ago, every existing bed in the system was opened. Particularly relevant to the residents of the north and the north-east is our commitment to the construction of the 48-bed expansion at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, which is in fact a doubling of the government's original election commitment of 24 beds. The $47 million expansion will deliver two 24-bed inpatient wards on level 3 in Building A. That was originally constructed as a cold shell in 2013 to accommodate future expansion.

Works on the expansion are expected to be completed in 2024. For patients, it will deliver 48 single rooms with ensuites, rooms with speciality care features, improving patient comfort and wellbeing for those who require a higher level of support. In addition, for residents undergoing dialysis treatment, a temporary $1.2 million renal ward has opened in a refurbished area adjacent to the hospital to create extra capacity. The new nine-chair dialysis unit will be in addition to the existing 12 dialysis chairs established within the hospital, meaning patients living in the northern suburbs can receive their dialysis care closer to home.

Across our hospital system we know that some mental health patients have been waiting for hours in our emergency departments. There is a genuine need for more beds and services where South Australians experiencing a mental health crisis can fully recover. Our government has committed to supporting mental health patients to receive the care they need by making a generational investment in mental health.

Still in the north and north-east, the Malinauskas government is delivering its election commitment for 24 more mental health beds at Modbury Hospital, with a first look at the unit's design revealed on site at the hospital's 50th anniversary celebration, which I attended with the Minister for Health and Wellbeing (the member for Kaurna) along with the members for Newland, King, Wright and Florey and the federal member for Makin.

The 24-bed unit will support adults who need longer stays in hospital for therapeutic and rehabilitative care in a model that provides therapy in a specially designed living space to support daily activities. The $44 million mental health rehabilitation unit, which is expected to open in 2025, will be combined with a 20-bed older persons mental health unit in a single build. This equates to a total of 44 purpose-built new mental health beds.

The former Liberal government had a plan to close Woodleigh House and remove beds from the hospital available to all adults for mental health admissions, but our government made a commitment to save Woodleigh House, delivering 24 adult mental health beds in a brand-new building. These additional mental health beds in the north-east form part of the government's historic $124 million commitment to build and open 72 new mental health rehabilitation beds through the establishment of 24-bed units at Modbury Hospital, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Noarlunga Hospital.

Importantly, the model of care for these beds will be co-designed by people with a lived experience of mental illness. This is to ensure that people who have used these services have the opportunity to contribute to the design process and advocate for how these new services can be improved for future users. Consultation is open until 9 May, and everyone who is interested is encouraged to have their say on the YourSAy website.

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