House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-11-26 Daily Xml

Contents

Hammill House

In reply to the Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (29 October 2025).

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing): I have been advised:

As a part of the new Emergency Department (ED) Project there was a requirement for the project electricians to undertake work on a distribution board that would provide electricity to the new ED that also provides electricity to Hammill House.

While work was being carried out on the Hammill House distribution board the generator backup which provides electricity to Hammill House during power outages could not be used, as all power through the distribution board including the generator was required to be disconnected.

Power outages occurred during the afternoon between 2pm and 4pm, which was coordinated with Hammill House nurse unit managers as the most suitable time.

During the third scheduled power outage the work extended beyond the scheduled two hours by 35 minutes and this extension resulted in the battery backup for the nurse call system to run flat, causing the system to alarm and when power was restored the system was returned to normal function.

All power outages were communicated to nursing staff, who in turn verbally informed all residents in advance. Portable oxygen was made available and accessible if required. There were no reports of oxygen required during the outages.

Attention was provided to all resident comfort needs when and where required, and when it was identified that a resident required repositioning to support their needs, attempts were taken to provide appropriate care. The fourth and final activity to connect the new ED to the power grid, was successfully completed on 6 November 2025, with no reported incidents.

It has been identified that not all beds have a battery backup supply, and this is now under investigation. For future planned or unplanned outages where a power backup supply cannot be provided, contingency plans have been put in place for residents to ensure their comfort and needs are not compromised.