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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-06-18 Daily Xml
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Women's and Children's Hospital

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:34): I seek leave to ask the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question about the Women's and Children's Hospital.

The PRESIDENT: Do you want to make a brief explanation?

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Yes, I do, Mr President.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Actually, I will refer the minister to the brief explanation I made earlier regarding concerns about positions not being filled at the hospital, about the hospital being run down to the verge of collapse, pleas for equipment—critical equipment—to be provided to the hospital and the lack thereof and in relation specifically to the issue of pods, and I ask the minister:

1. Has your government made available a budget to staff the pods at the Women's and Children's Hospital; that is, for staffing arrangements so that they can become operational?

2. If so, how much is that budget and, if not, why hasn't that been done?

3. Has the minister undertaken to consult with doctors over the concerns that were raised in the letter signed by 215 doctors concerning the issues I have raised today?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:35): I thank the honourable member for her question. If I might start with the consultation, certainly when I received the correspondence last year and also when I met with the clinicians, there were a number of issues raised, and I know that discussions have been going on in relation to a number of those issues since. I can certainly seek an update and provide that—take that on notice and provide the honourable member with a more detailed answer.

In terms of the pods, if I could make it clear: the pods are part of the reserve capacity for COVID-19. My understanding, for example, is there is actually, very sadly, a child interstate who has got COVID and is in hospital. Even with a relatively low level of COVID-19 in Australia, we need to be ready for every eventuality, so those pods are still available.

We have a whole range of facilities: the ECH College Grove, the Wakefield hospital, the Repat site and the pods at the facility at Women's and Children's that are on stand-by. They are not staffed because they are not open. I would remind honourable members of the extraordinarily generous response of the nurses of South Australia who don't work in SA Health but have recorded their willingness to support the state in its COVID-19 response.

One of the ways that we will be staffing the facilities as they are needed will be using capacity within our own workforce to the extent that we need to. We may well be engaging staff from those pools. Also, I would remind honourable members that we have, under the COVID NPA—sorry, I might rephrase that. It might not be COVID NPA, but certainly with the commonwealth agreement with the states and the private hospitals, we also have the capacity to engage staff from private hospitals. So certainly for those groups of facilities it is not as though we have staff waiting on the sidelines with rosters ready to go.

The Hon. C. Bonaros: Budget.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Well, again—sorry, it would be disorderly for me to respond to an interjection, but there have been plans made for some of the facilities in terms of staffing models, and they would, if you like, have budget implications. But as the honourable Treasurer knows, I come back and seek the money as I have the need. Considering that we don't have a single person in hospital in South Australia in relation to COVID-19, there are no budget implications.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! You, out. Away you go. Go on.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter having withdrawn from the chamber:

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