Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-11-14 Daily Xml

Contents

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:38): Can the minister confirm that there will be no specialist cancer beds at The QEH and that the remaining cancer beds at The QEH will be between four and six beds in a general medical ward?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (14:38): I think I have answered pretty comprehensively that the government is serious about honouring its commitment to retain cancer services at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Both inpatient and outpatient services will be retained at the hospital and will continue to be able to provide a range of different things: cancer surgery, chemotherapy, and access to outpatient services and day treatment at The QEH. We want to make sure that people living in the western suburbs, if they are struck with cancer, can get access to treatment in a world-class hospital close to their place of residence.

However, it is also true that the state government has obviously invested over $2 billion in a brand-new quaternary hospital. That will also be providing important cancer services to residents all across the state—not just the western suburbs, not just metropolitan Adelaide but indeed the whole state. The most complex cancer cases that need the most complex and acute treatment will be delivered at the RAH, but cancer services will remain at The QEH, which is a great result for residents in the western suburbs, who can have more basic levels of cancer treatment at a hospital close to home that has undergone a substantial redevelopment—$250 million worth.