Transforming Health | Motion
14/10/2015
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I speak on behalf of Dignity for Disability in support of this motion and in so doing I want to for just a few minutes step away from the Repat as one example and talk about the process that has been undertaken in this Transforming Health proposal since February. I want to do that because unfortunately the protest over the decision is just one example of how this Transforming Health proposal has not been well received by the general community.
Other examples include the Flinders Medical Centre neonatal intensive care unit which was originally proposed for closure using data that would later prove to be wildly inaccurate. When this data was proved to be inaccurate regarding the number of babies who would be affected by this closure, the Minister for Health in the other place (Hon. Jack Snelling), then came out—I am paraphrasing here—and told the community not to worry about it because it would not happen for a number of years yet. Following further community protest, the decision was reversed.
There has also been a wide lack of clarity around how a number of the proposals will work in practice. A recent example is that of the apparent lack of a physical education unit once spinal injury support services are moved from Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre to The Queen Elizabeth Hospital. I have been approached, as I understand the Hon. Mr Wade has also been approached, by Paraquad SA, the peak body in South Australia representing people with a spinal cord injury usually following a motor vehicle accident, who have told us that it seems to them from their reading of the plans that there will be no physical education unit once these services are moved to The QEH.
For the record, a physical education unit, to put it briefly, is basically a gym where people can go to use special equipment and get special professional support to regain muscle strength that they may have lost following, in this example, a motor vehicle accident, and also learn new skills, such as how to use a mobility aid, such as a wheelchair, effectively.
Paraquad SA came to Dignity for Disability and said they were very concerned about the lack of a physical education unit under this move. The most obvious reason being that if people cannot get access to rehabilitation following an accident or injury through another means then they are going to have less independence which is likely, in turn, to translate to greater dependence on taxpayer dollars in the form of disability support.
Lo and behold, a government spokesperson comes out a few days later in the media to say that, not only will there be a physical education gym at The QEH under this move but there will be one on every ward. If this is true, Dignity for Disability says this is fantastic because we should, of course, not be losing any services but be providing something better if we are truly going to transform health. However, I am yet to see any proof, apart from this statement in the media, that this is, in fact, the case. So, I again, on behalf of Dignity for Disability, implore the government to provide clarity to the general community about how these measures and proposals will operate in practice.
Another example is the very evident lack of hydrotherapy pools currently in South Australia, particularly for people undergoing rehabilitation. Again, I was informed by Professor Dorothy Keefe on radio that we will, in fact, have more hydrotherapy pools under Transforming Health and, again, I say fantastic, but I need to see the proof. I need to be able to tell my constituents, who rely on things like physical education units and hydrotherapy pools to regain and maintain their independence, their strength and their lack of reliance on taxpayer dollars, that these services will be in place for them. I have yet to see the proof of that. So I again implore the government to provide clear, plain English explanations to the general community about how these new proposals will work in practice.
In listening to the Hon. Mr Ngo’s contribution, I was interested that he asked members for feedback. He wanted to make sure that we had all submitted through the formal channels before getting up and making statements in the media and in this place about Transforming Health. I have double-checked and I am pleased that I can clarify with the Hon. Mr Ngo that Dignity for Disability certainly made a submission on Transforming Health back in February, but if he wants further feedback on how the government can save money in the health budget, I am happy to again put on record a number of proposals that Dignity for Disability has put forward in our time in parliament on exactly how to do that:
More support for people with chronic pain so that, where possible, they are able to work and contribute to the community, at the very least get out of bed and leave their homes.
For the health and disability budgets to work together to put in place holistic support for people who have acquired additional disability-related needs while in hospital and need support either through the form of disability support workers or handrails to be installed in their home in order for them to be able to return home. Rather than doing this, we have seen situations where people languish in hospital beds, racking up a hospital bill of $450,000 for one person, which I am sure I do not need to tell anyone here would be enough to build them a home to go home to.
Allow people with disabilities to have their support workers visit them in hospital so that they can at least get a shower during a hospital stay.
Appoint a mental health commissioner who has lived experience of mental health challenges and will communicate with families and individuals about what social supports will enable them to stay out of hospital by remaining connected to the community.
Provide more support for people with borderline personality disorder so that we do not lose 10 per cent of these community members through suicide and the economic and community contribution that they would be able to make by remaining with us.
Funding support for people with HIV through Positive Life.
Recognise epilepsy as a disability in South Australia and provide expedient access to neurologists so that people can get an adequate diagnosis so the epilepsy does not remain so uncontrolled that they are unable to work and contribute to the community.
There is one final suggestion—and there are many more that I could put on the record:
Work together with the federal government to reinstate funding to the Intensive Home Based Support Service (IHBSS), which supports people experiencing a mental health crisis in their home, and, as an evaluation shows, saves on average 10.3 days in hospital per consumer and therefore roughly $800 per day per person for a mental health-related stay in hospital.
Those are some suggestions on how the government could save money in the health budget, and I would certainly welcome their implementation. We have put them forward in our formal submission and we will continue to raise them in this place.
