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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-07 Daily Xml
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Ambulance Ramping

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:22): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. When was the minister first informed of claims made by SASMOA President Dr David Pope? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mrs HURN: In a FIVEaa interview between Dr Pope and Matthew Pantelis last year, they discussed the claims of intimidation to treat ambulance patients ahead of those in our emergency departments. Matthew Pantelis asked Dr Pope: 'Have you raised this internally, you know, quietly behind the scenes with the minister in one of your meetings?' to which Dr Pope replied: 'Oh we have, including my colleagues.'

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:23): I think the Premier has outlined that the allegations raised by Dr Pope—

Mrs Hurn: It's about when you knew.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Unley!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: As the Premier has outlined, when the allegations were made by Dr Pope the government took them very seriously. We commissioned an independent review by Dr Bill Griggs and also Professor Keith McNeil to look at any evidence in regard to the claims that have been made by Dr Pope. Those findings have been released publicly. Professor McNeil and Dr Griggs have outlined their findings publicly. They have given their recommendations to the government, which we have accepted and are seeking to implement in relation to working with our clinicians. Where there are improvements that we can make, we will seek to do so.

In relation to the comments of David Pope, that's a matter for him. I am not seeking to engage in a back and forth commentary. We seek to work together with our unions. But when we became aware of these allegations, we took them seriously, and we asked for a review to take place, which was the appropriate thing to do. That review didn't find evidence to support those claims that have been made; in fact, the results of that review show that some of the opposite is occurring in terms of the waiting times—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —for people from the waiting room versus the ambulance room. The review itself makes a number of recommendations in terms of how to address pressure across the system—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —from the ambulance ramp to the waiting room to, importantly also, people waiting for care calling 000. We are now seeking to implement those recommendations and do that on a cooperative basis with SASMOA and also with other industrial bodies, including the AMF and the AEA as well.

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