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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-22 Daily Xml
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KEITH AND DISTRICT HOSPITAL

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:05): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of Government Business, representing the Minister for Health, questions about the Keith Hospital.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: The Keith and District Hospital, as everyone in this place is aware, is the sole hospital for a region of greater than 10,000 square kilometres and 8,000 vehicles that travel through Keith daily, and it accepts anyone who presents for care, integrating aged care, acute care, public and private, outpatients, accident and emergency, and a medical centre including GPs and visiting specialists.

For some years, the state government has part funded the Keith Hospital and, as we know, in the decision last year in the budget, that funding now leaves the Keith Hospital with a shortfall of over $300,000 per annum. That $300,000 is now the subject of fundraising initiatives. I know that they have Nutrimetics lipsticks for sale. I know that they have flyers in this building calling for funds.

We have also seen in that region tragic deaths in the last week or so, which have highlighted the need for the Keith Hospital and the vital role that it plays, in particular its proximity to the city in terms of the helicopter distance that that hospital provides for when there is a need from an acute accident or emergency. Where other hospitals such as Naracoorte and so on would have to refuel, Keith is the furthest south you can go without needing to refuel. Underlining the importance of the Keith Hospital, not only to that area but also to the Adelaide CBD, my questions to the minister are:

1. Does the government prioritise projects such as the superway, which this state government is putting $430 million into in part of a total $843 million project, which equates to some $162,000 per metre? I think it is the most expensive road project we have seen in this country.

2. Does the government prioritise two metres of a superway over the residents, not only of Keith but of this state, in terms of access to accident and emergency care when they critically need it?

3. Does it, in fact, prioritise losing a few minutes off a trip, a few minutes later to a destination, over lost lives?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Gambling) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for her questions and will refer those to the Minister for Health in another place and bring back a response. Just by way of some preliminary background, I have been advised by the Minister for Health that he has been personally urging the board of the Keith Hospital to work on a business plan and maximise their revenue from the commonwealth. He has been doing that since July last year, I am advised.

I can also advise that no state subsidy has been removed in the current financial year and that Keith Hospital still receives a full $663,000 per annum. I am advised that minister Hill also met with the board's chairman in October, and I understand that he has repeated the offer to help with and pay for that plan. As I said, he has repeatedly offered to help with and pay for that plan.

I am advised that a conservative estimate of the funding that the hospital has failed to claim over this time from the commonwealth for the really important aged care services that it provides is around $50,000. So, they are obviously missing a really important funding opportunity. The advice is that they have entitlements to that. They are eligible for it, but have failed to claim for that commonwealth money over that time.

In addition, I am advised that Country Health SA identified savings strategies in December 2010 that would further improve the financial position for that hospital. I am also advised that, whatever the board's decision, $300,000 a year will be provided for essential public emergency services from July 2011. As I said, I will pass the detailed questions on to the Minister for Health, and I am happy to bring back a response.

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