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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-16 Daily Xml
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Question Time

SA Health Focus Week

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:11): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. What, if any, analysis is SA Health conducting about Focus Week, and will the minister publicly release the findings and recommendations? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mrs HURN: Dr Robyn Lawrence said the aim of Focus Week was to 'make sure our patients get the right care, in the right place, at the right time, 100 per cent of the time'. Last night, on the first day of Focus Week, we had Noarlunga Hospital operating at 185 per cent capacity, Flinders was at 171 per cent capacity and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital was at 152 per cent capacity.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:11): I am not exactly sure what the opposition are suggesting. We know their extreme negativity to every single measure, but are they suggesting that we shouldn't try to find any improvement in the healthcare system whatsoever? Are they suggesting that we shouldn't trial any additional staff, any models of care in what is going on in the healthcare system? We were very clear—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: We were very clear in terms of our ambitions and what we said. I said very clearly that this was not the answer for everything in the healthcare system. What we need to do is build capacity—which is what we are doing—but while we are doing that we should be taking every opportunity to try to improve the way systems work, to improve the way discharges work, to improve the way we bring people into the emergency department. Our clinicians, ward by ward and hospital by hospital—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —are spending the time this week trialling things, putting things in place to see what will work, to see what additional measures could work.

As you would know, sir, since the previous government devolved the healthcare system to local boards there are a multitude of things happening across the 10 local healthcare networks in South Australia. Just last week, I met with general medicine doctors from across South Australia, and ward by ward they are all thinking of different measures they are going to implement this week to try to improve the flow of patients.

There is not one central list of measures or one central list of recommendations. We have over 47,000 staff who work at SA Health, and all of them are focused on trying to improve patient outcomes. All of them are focused this week on making sure they can put in place measures that can improve the flow of patients, which is what we know needs to happen and which is what patients have been calling for to happen for the last five years. It is what we are determined to do.

We know that additional capacity is needed as well, and we are doing that. We know additional staff are needed as well, and we are doing that, and we will take every opportunity to try to improve processes in the meantime. I am not sure why the Liberals and why the member for Schubert—

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —are all so opposed to people trying to improve systems in the healthcare system.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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