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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-16 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Ambulance Ramping

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (15:03): I rise today to talk about priorities—or perhaps warped priorities, skewed priorities, priorities that do not align with the priorities of the South Australian people, because that is certainly what we see from those opposite. This week, I think, revealed a huge amount about the priorities of the government. It also allowed us to reflect on what the priorities are of the people of South Australia.

Let's think back in time. Just 18 or 19 months ago the big priority for the Labor Party was health care; it was all about health, health, health, and that central election commitment, 'We will fix the ramping crisis, we will fix ramping.' Well, what has happened? Fast forward to the present day and what is the situation? Has ramping been fixed? Is there any evidence of that? Is the trajectory in the right direction? Not at all. They have single-handedly taken our hospital system and our ambulance service to the worst condition it has been in in our state's history.

The stats speak for themselves. The October ramping statistics showed that ambulances lost 3,322 hours to the ramp, which is more than double what that same recording was in the last month of the former Liberal government—1,522 hours. Now, 1,522 hours is not great, and we wanted to do better, but is 3,322 hours any better at all? No, it absolutely is not; it is so, so much worse.

That means that our most vulnerable South Australians, when they pick up the phone, or a family member does likewise, to call an ambulance to transport them to hospital, they worry about the ambulance not arriving, and then they worry about being stuck on the ramp for hours, and then they worry about being stuck in the emergency department for hours with maybe a faint hope that eventually they will get into a hospital and receive the care that they need.

We saw, this week, people waiting in emergency departments at the Lyell McEwin Hospital for up to 10 hours. When they are at their most vulnerable, when they need our public services more than at any other time in their life, perhaps, this situation is what confronts them.

Earlier this week we had SASMOA, the representative body for our salaried medical officers, call two inspections at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. They did so because doctors had contacted them and said, 'This place is not safe to undertake our jobs, this place is not safe to administer patient care.' Does that sound like a health system fixed? Does that sound like a government that has responded to its primary election commitment, as outlined for weeks and weeks in the lead-up to the 2022 election, as shown on corflutes posters up and down highways and streets around the city and our state?

The rhetoric coming out of this government now is very different; the priorities are completely skewed, they are completely different. In fact, we find it very difficult to even see the Premier turning up to participate in a press conference about anything to do with health. We managed to drag him out to one this week after we raised, in this place, that he had not been seen talking about health for weeks and weeks, and we got him down to an ambulance station at Woodville, and he did one.

What does the Premier care about? What is the Premier on about at the moment? Footy, sport, LIV Golf, VAILO 500, the Gather Round, and so on and so forth. These are distractions: 'Look over there, look over there South Australians! Don't look at our hospitals, don't look at our emergency departments, don't rely on life-saving care when you need it. Look at the football, look at the VAILO 500, look at LIV Golf.'

There is no great issue with the events by themselves, and we support many of these events, but let me tell you: it is all about priorities.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: We need health over sport, not the other way around.

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Florey is warned.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: In the early Roman days there was a phrase, 'Bread and circuses.' This is what I think this government is all about—but I do not even think it is about the bread because, in a cost-of-living crisis that they are not responding to, bread is not being provided to South Australians but circuses—'Look over there!'—distracting us. It is all circus, Mr Speaker, and South Australians are suffering as a result. All circus and no bread.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Mount Gambier.

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