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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-02-09 Daily Xml
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WEIGHT DISORDER UNIT

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (19:49): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes the Labor government's December 2010 announcement of intent to transfer eating disorder beds from the Weight Disorder Unit, otherwise known as Ward 4G, at Flinders Medical Centre to other general medical and psychiatric facilities, being the Margaret Tobin Centre and the Boylan Ward at the Women's and Children's Hospital;

2. Notes the grave concerns expressed by eating disorders consumers, carers and advocacy groups that this move will significantly lower the quality and accessibility of care options for those suffering and recovering from eating disorders in South Australia;

3. Welcomes the Minister for Health's assurance that this move will now not proceed until after the latest review of Ward 4G is completed; and

4. Urges the minister to work towards an outcome that utilises this opportunity to ensure that future care for those suffering from eating disorders adopts a statewide approach for a continuum of care that is world class, holistic and accessible to both adult and adolescent sufferers.

As members would be aware, this motion—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: I am sure you will be, because there was a rally outside this place today, and that would certainly not be the first time that members in this place had heard of the debate regarding the government's late 2010—not actually an announcement—decision to close effectively Ward 4G, the Weight Disorder Unit, at the Flinders Medical Centre and shift the disordered eating consumers currently in that ward, if they were under 18, to the Women's and Children's Hospital in the Boylan Ward, and, if they were over 18, into the Margaret Tobin Centre.

Both these options for the under 18s and over 18s have been met with much concern from consumers, carers, advocates and professionals in this field of eating disorders and, quite rightly, the government has now actually acknowledged that perhaps it was an ill-considered move. I will not call it an announcement because, as I say, it was actually first raised with me by an ABC journalist who had discovered it from those concerned. I certainly do not remember it being much heralded in any government announcements prior to that time in December.

Disordered eating, particularly disordered eating such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa where people in fact restrict or control their eating to such an extent that they lose enormous amounts of weight (an illness that in fact can and often does lead to death), is an area that we have seen emerging for some decades now, but it is still an area that we do not know all that much about.

As is reflected in the celebrity cases that we know, we have typically seen sufferers who are young women, and increasingly we have also seen that there is a trend to younger and younger groups not only being diagnosed with disordered eating of a life-threatening nature but also having severe body dysmorphia and body image and self-esteem issues. We see children as young as six and seven in the schoolyards dieting, and although it is not only the girls, of course it is predominantly the females in our society who are affected by this issue. However, increasingly we have seen men and boys also suffer from a range of eating disorders, although I would note that, typically, boys and men with body dysmorphia often have issues with lack of bulk, so those issues are not quite as life-threatening, although there are cases, of course, where men and boys do suffer in that way.

As I mentioned before, we were joined on the steps of Parliament House today by some amazing young people who have suffered from anorexia or bulimia who shared their stories with us. It was incredibly courageous and most touching. I note that there were many members in this place today who were on those steps, the Hon. Stephen Wade being one of them, and I acknowledge that he raised this issue earlier today in question time. There were also members from the other place—the members for Morialta, Heysen, Fisher, Morphett and Adelaide—and, of course, the Hon. Ann Bressington and I were also there today. I commend those members for showing an interest, and I urge you all to keep a watching brief on this issue.

The absolute horror with which many in the sector have greeted this decision is because potentially, particularly for those under 18, it diverts them to a care that historically has proven to be inadequate for their illness. For those who are over 18, this decision puts them into a psychiatric centre where (as we heard in the stories today from those who had actually been put in with other patients, as you would call them, with psychiatric illnesses) vulnerable people who are very slight and have a particular type of mental illness are subject to and vulnerable to forms of abuse, including sexual and physical abuse.

Certainly in regard to the trauma that some of those consumers who had survived eating disorders shared with us, they say that they carry some of those mental scars to this day, which were an additional burden that did not help the recovery from their illness. In this state, we have heard a lot of talk from the youth minister, for example, that we are going to have some body image forums coming up this year. I welcome that in many ways, but I actually think that perhaps the cart has been put before the horse there. We should see a government responding with greater seriousness, and with greater vision and foresight, to this incredibly life-threatening condition.

While there is incredibly commendable work done in Ward 4G in South Australia and it has had a history of working in partnerships with great professionals—and there is great expertise there—it is actually not the best that we could offer people in this state who are suffering from eating disorders, particularly those of quite a life-threatening nature. In fact, there are much better models around the world, and in our own country, that we could be looking to, and they certainly do not include this budget cost-cutting measure of shifting people off to the Margaret Tobin Centre and to the Women's and Children's Hospital.

Just to give the government a chance to think outside the square on this one, I have put on the table that perhaps the Blackwood Hospital site could be used as some sort of recovery and treatment centre. Now, it might not be the perfect solution, but it would certainly at least be something that would be progressing from what we have as a current standard of care at this stage.

I point to places like the Butterfly Foundation in Victoria and the various models around the world. Many South Australian parents, in fact, find themselves travelling overseas or interstate to seek care for their loved ones because what we offer here could, in fact, be of a much greater quality and actually provide a much better program than we currently have.

I welcome minister Hill's recognition of the fact that it was a bit of a folly to undertake this decision. I look on the idea of another review with cynicism because I note that this area has been reviewed and reviewed and reviewed. I think it is time to stop reviewing and start actually acting in this area.

In the last few decades, as I say, this issue has emerged and there is now a lot of new information on the table and a lot of increased understanding about better ways of treating this particular illness, and it is quite a unique illness. It is not purely a psychiatric illness, it is not purely a physical illness, and certainly most sufferers have particular needs that, I think, need a particular solution.

So, I look forward to the government taking this commitment for a better solution to this issue seriously. I welcome with some cynicism, as I said, the fact that it has said that it will not progress the announcement to shift or close Ward 4G until we have a better solution at hand. I would remind the government that they are the ones in the role. They are the ones with the luxury of a public servant and they are the ones who have the ability at their fingertips to improve the lives of South Australians. So, this is a great opportunity for this refreshed, reconnected Labor government to do something that the South Australian people could applaud.

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: Reconnected and refreshed?

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: So-called reconnected and refreshed. I will remain less cynical on that and I hope to be proven wrong in my cynicism. I would like to see some announcement in coming months from minister Hill that will, in fact, see South Australia become a world leader in the area of these eating disorders. With that, I commend the motion to the chamber and look forward to further debate.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

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