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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-04-02 Daily Xml
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Queen Elizabeth Hospital

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (15:12): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister provide an update about the implementation of the government's policy regarding The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and can the minister also provide details regarding the estimated time frame for implementation of this policy?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for his question and his ongoing commitment to South Australian public health. In particular, I acknowledge the honourable member's advocacy for many years for The QEH both in the community, in the parliament and through his work on the select committee into Transforming Health. The Marshall Liberal government was elected with a strong commitment to support health services in Adelaide's western suburbs after the previous Labor government's disastrous Transforming Health experiment led to downgrades of services at The QEH.

The Marshall Liberal government committed to ensure that The QEH has the capacity to deal with cardiac emergencies with a cardiac catheterisation laboratory available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Marshall Liberal government made this a priority and delivered on this commitment shortly after the 2018 election. Since that time, we have been working to upgrade the equipment in the main cardiac catheterisation laboratory, engaging with local clinicians to ensure the equipment met their clinical needs. I can advise the council that work in the lab to upgrade the equipment, together with related capital works, is now underway, and is expected to be completed by the end of May.

Patients at The QEH will have access to a first-class cardiac catheterisation laboratory. The Marshall Liberal government is also committed to the stage 3 redevelopment of TQEH. The honourable member will recall that the redevelopment is another example of Labor's betrayal of Adelaide's western suburbs. The stage 3 redevelopment was promised by Labor at the 2010 election. In 2014, four years later, no work had yet started when the redevelopment was cancelled. The funding was redirected towards Labor's Transforming Health experiment. It was re-announced by Labor in 2017, seven years after it was first announced. By the time of the election, no actual work had been done.

Unlike Labor, the Marshall Liberal government delivers. Work began on the first part of the redevelopment, the car park, in October last year. The $17.4 million car park will provide an additional 500 parking spaces for the hospital and is planned to be completed later this year. The Marshall Liberal government, working with the Morrison Liberal government, has also won a full MRI licence for TQEH, giving a greater range of medical imaging services close to home for residents of the west. Labor couldn't deliver a full licence. This is another clear indication of this government's commitment to Adelaide's west and working with our federal colleagues.

In less than a year since election, the Marshall Liberal government has delivered more for The QEH and the residents of the west than Labor did in 16 years of broken promises and service downgrades. Labor cannot be trusted on health.

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