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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-06-04 Daily Xml
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Macular Disease

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (15:08): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the minister representing the Minister for Health about South Australia's eye health crisis.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: As we heard yesterday from my parliamentary colleague the Hon. Rob Lucas, there is a current and future capacity crisis with the South Australian public hospital system for the treatment of macular degeneration and other macular diseases. Following comprehensive briefings provided to me by the Macular Disease Foundation Australia, I, like other people in this place, have become very concerned about the lack of action being taken by the Minister for Health on this issue. There has also been media attention pointed in this direction on ABC TV news and FIVEaa radio in recent weeks.

Aside from the politicking that occurred in this chamber yesterday in the Hon. Ian Hunter's answer to the Hon. Rob Lucas's questions, Dignity for Disability would like answers from the state government. These eye health issues required investigation and answers long before the federal Treasurer, Joe Hockey, decided to gut the health and education sectors in the budget in May. We don't want to hear about it being someone else's fault that we are not making wise healthcare expenditure choices to preserve good eye health in South Australia. We need the government to take responsibility and take action.

The services required involve timely access to diagnosis and treatment to avoid irreversible vision loss. Yesterday, we heard that the matter has escalated and become critical, with sight-threatening delays in new patients being seen, but also with follow-up treatments for existing patients at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. My questions are:

1. Has the minister been made aware of the serious nature of the crisis facing the outpatient eye services at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, specifically treatment of primarily older Australians with macular degeneration who cannot get access to initial diagnosis and treatment, and those requiring ongoing sight saving treatment failing to get scheduled injections to avoid vision loss?

2. Have people contacted the minister's office alerting the minister to access issues with delays in their treatment (i.e. their injection schedule) and their concerns as to what to do? If so, what have they been advised to do?

3. Can the minister reassure South Australians that he will have considered all the options thoroughly, including the viable and common-sense proposal from key stakeholders to establish the SA eye hospital at the current RAH site by using the McEwin Building to create a dedicated public hospital with sufficient capacity to cater for current and future needs of South Australians?

4. If the minister will not guarantee the establishment of a specific public eye hospital in the McEwin Building, could he explain how he intends to keep meeting increasing demand for macular degeneration treatment?

5. Given the critical nature of eye health in South Australia, is the minister willing to engage with a stakeholder forum with key groups to discuss the short-term and long-term solutions to this crisis and to discuss the eye health hospital proposal?

6. Is the minister aware that moving patients to additional clinics at other hospitals will not deal with the primary concern of the inability to get patients seen in the first place, as these other clinics are already at breaking point, with waiting lists of greater than two years, and that this would surely be a bandaid solution failing to address the primary problem of access?

7. If the minister does not intend to improve access to urgent public macular disease and eye health services, will he commit additional resources to the Royal Society for the Blind and other low-vision services when increased numbers of South Australians find out that they are blind or have low vision and require extra support to go about daily life?

8. Does the minister understand that many people with deteriorating eye health are over 65 years of age and so will not be eligible for services under the National Disability Insurance Scheme?

9. Is the minister aware that it costs more than $25,000 to train each guide dog for people with low vision or blindness?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for her many questions and will refer those to the Minister for Health in another place and bring back a response. I will remind all honourable members that the recently announced federal Liberal government's impact to South Australia over the forward estimates is going to be $898 million—$898 million over the forward estimates. That's the impact it is going to have, including on our health services. I hope the Hon. Kelly Vincent was out at the front of Parliament House this afternoon helping those other healthcare service providers protest against—

The Hon. K.L. Vincent: I just told you I was.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Well, I just didn't happen to see you there; there were so many thousands of people, I am not surprised. I am very pleased that the Hon. Kelly Vincent has indicated that she was out in front of Parliament House today supporting the protest action of those healthcare workers against federal budget cuts.

We see the cuts to health in the year 2017-18 alone are going to be equivalent to an almost 600-bed reduction, or, for instance, closing down the entire Flinders Medical Centre. The $7 GP tax will obviously drive people away from GPs putting increasing strain on emergency departments.

There is the removal of $440 million across the forward estimates in health by reneging on the National Health Reform Agreement, including $217 million in 2017-18, and, of course, the elimination of the health national partnership agreements, which equates to $162 million over the forward estimates, including $52 million in 2017-18.

We see things like the funding for 39 GP registrars in regional communities will be cut. We see things like the dental flexible grants program will have cuts of $229 million starting this year. This program was to help dentists set up, particularly in outer metropolitan and rural areas. Adult public dental services will have cuts of around $390 million starting this year.

The National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health will have cuts of $367 million starting this year. This agreement was supposed to fund preventative health education programs, such as anti-smoking campaigns. The list goes on.

Visits to GPs will now incur a $7 co-payment. Diagnostic imaging, such as X-rays, and vaccinations and pathology services will also attract a $7 fee. GPs will be required to collect this fee for consultations in nursing homes. As we unpick this thing, we discover the full extent of these draconian measures.

Changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will mean prescription medicines under PBS will now cost $5 more per prescription. Women's health and reproductive health will be affected by these changes, with 60 per cent of visits to GPs being made by women and 64 per cent of those receiving mental health treatment being women. Hospitals will also be allowed to charge for visits to emergency rooms by patients with ailments that might only require a visit to a GP. These changes, these savage cuts to our vital health services, will impact on, I believe, every South Australian but particularly on those of low income, such as pensioners and those families with children.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary, Ms Vincent.

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