Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-10-31 Daily Xml

Contents

Southern Adelaide Local Health Network

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:43): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question to the Minister for Health in relation to inpatient beds in the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Last Thursday, during a radio interview on ABC radio, the minister was asked if the closure of the Repatriation General Hospital would lead to a net loss of hospital beds. In reply, the minister said:

No, well the government is committed to making sure that we maintain the same number of beds; the exact same number of beds that exist at the existing Repat site are being delivered somewhere else in the system.

At the time that the minister made the comment, SA Health's inpatient dashboard showed the Repatriation General Hospital had an all-beds capacity of 230 inpatient beds, and the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network had an all-beds capacity of 942 inpatient beds.

1. Can the minister guarantee that the number of beds in SALHN at the time of his statement will be maintained?

2. When the minister says that there will be exactly the same number of beds in the system, does the system he refers to include public patient beds in private hospitals?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (14:44): I have said repeatedly—and I am happy to keep repeating it for the honourable member's benefit—that all of the beds and services that are at the Repat site are being delivered somewhere else within the system. Of course, that is by and large at brand-new facilities that we have invested in.