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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-09-18 Daily Xml
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Ambulance Services

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:35): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister rule out additional risks to patient safety as a result of the government's privatisation of ambulance services between Modbury and Lyell McEwin hospitals, and will a degree-qualified paramedic be present during these transfers?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:35): Inter-hospital transfers between Modbury and Lyell McEwin hospitals are yet another price that the people of South Australia are paying for the botched Transforming Health savings program. When former treasurer Koutsantonis wanted to have a response to a federal budget, what did they say? 'Okay, we've got a budget savings program. What will we do? We'll close three hospitals. We'll downgrade three emergency departments.' I would put it to you humbly, members—

The PRESIDENT: Through me, minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —our budget is much more responsible, much more measured. We're not saying, 'Let's do the quick and easy slash—

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Point of order: despite you having reminded the minister just then to direct his comments through you, he is wilfully ignoring the President of this chamber.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you for your concern, the Hon. Mr Hunter. Minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Thank you, Mr President. I assure you it was not wilful, and I shall keep doing it.

The PRESIDENT: Get on with the answer, minister.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Thanks for the opportunity, the Hon. Mr Hunter, to gather my thoughts, and I might just restate them. What we have here are the long-term consequences of the former Labor government's response to how to make our health system sustainable. Faced by federal budget cuts, treasurer Koutsantonis—I think it was; they come and go—suggested that the best way to make ends meet was to close three hospitals and downgrade three emergency departments. One of them was the Modbury Hospital. They suggested that there would only be one or two transfers a day. I won't be held accountable for this—I will try to check it—but my recollection is that it was about ten times that.

I am happy to take that on notice to give advice to the house on how much greater the hospital transfers were from Modbury to Lyell McEwin than were predicted by the former Labor government. The fact of the matter is they got so many stats wrong; this was just yet another example. What this government is faced with is a very large bill to transfer patients from Lyell McEwin to Modbury, and from Modbury to Lyell McEwin. I should say it's the health network. The health network came up with a strategy to have a more affordable transport service between Modbury and Lyell McEwin and back again by giving patient transport an appropriate level, which may not necessarily be a full ambulance service.

We think it makes sense to look to another provider if we can provide an appropriate service at a lower cost. This service will be focused on patients not requiring full ambulance service transport. If a patient going between the hospitals needs the level of care provided by an ambulance, they will get it. SA Health already uses private providers to transport patients, and they did so under the former Labor government. They use them in SALHN, they use them in NALHN, they use them in the country and they use them in SAS itself, so it is completely hypocritical for the Labor opposition to come in here and tell us that you need to have a fully state government-run, private patient transport system. We will continue to look at opportunities to more effectively use taxpayers' money to deliver the health services that South Australians need.

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