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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-10-15 Daily Xml
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Healthcare System Campaign

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): My question again is to the Premier. Will this advertising campaign fix the ramping crisis for residents in Trott Park and, if so, how? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: The South Australian government recently launched the $1.9  million advertising campaign boasting about the health system.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:20): The residents of Trott Park I think would be heartened once they get a degree of familiarity with the contrast between this government's policy investment in health in the southern suburbs versus the previous policy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition, you are on your final warning.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition can leave the chamber until the end of question time. I just said you were on your final warning, you defied the Chair, you kept yelling out, we'll see you after the end of question time.

The honourable member for Hartley having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: And members on my right, if you can be quiet as well, thank you.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The previous policy was to cut the Ambulance Service, and to make nurses redundant in a global pandemic. This policy is very different indeed. What we are doing is methodically going about the task of dramatically increasing the capacity of the health system. In the southern suburbs alone we are investing in Noarlunga, we are investing in the Flinders Medical Centre, we are investing in the Repat and we are investing in our ambulance services. Like I said in my previous answer, in the last month we have seen some of that come to fruition.

I guess the most heartening thing for residents in Trott Park would actually be the results of the new beds that we have been able to open in the northern suburbs. What we saw recently were the beds that were opened up at the Lyell McEwin Hospital—and I am looking to the Minister for Health—I think it was 48 that we opened up at the Lyell McEwin in the last month. As soon as we opened those beds up we saw that bed block and transfer of care—that is to say, ramping—reduced dramatically in our northern suburbs facilities.

Why would that matter to someone in Trott Park? That matters to someone in Trott Park because there are more beds coming online in the southern suburbs too, whether it be at Noarlunga or at the Flinders Medical Centre. We are working as hard as we can to make sure we do not just open up beds around Trott Park or the Lyell McEwin, but throughout the entirety of the state. It is a government policy that we have to increase the capacity of the system to accommodate a growing population, because it is more desirable to live in South Australia now than in comparison to other jurisdictions in a number of ways. We have a growing population but also an ageing population.

This is going to take time, and we said that from the outset. But we are delivering the additional beds and the people to service them. There is hope, on the back of the degree of evidence, that the policy may yet be making a difference. I cannot stress enough, and I emphasise this for all members within the parliament—MPs, media, the public, anybody caring to listen—that while we see some good results in September we are not prematurely assuming that that translates to better results in the next month and the month after that.

We have to watch this very carefully, but every effort is being put in, and where we see evidence of something not working we seek to change the policy. If we see evidence of things that are working we seek to double-down on it. That is a concerted effort. Just this morning the health minister and I met with the new elected leadership of the AEA and they were able to provide yet another fresh perspective on the issues that are confronting the Ambulance Service, notwithstanding the record investment we are making there as well.

The residents in Trott Park deserve to know about the services that are being invested in in and around the southern suburbs. We maintain that effort and we are utterly committed to making sure that people are well informed about their options to get good care around where they reside.

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