The South Australian Government has unveiled a plan which it says will lead to a complete overhaul of the state’s health system.
Health Minster Jack Snelling today released the Transforming Health discussion paper, which was prepared in partnership with more than 60 of the state’s doctors, nurses, midwives and clinical staff to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the health system across metropolitan Adelaide.
It followed a promise earlier this year that the Government would consult widely before deciding where to target $332 million in cuts it needs to make to the state’s health system.
The paper has suggested savings could be made by consolidating specialist care and services to a “limited number of sites”.
The investigation found that due to the size of South Australia’s population it was not possible to provide every specialty at each hospital around the clock.
The Transforming Health paper also raised the possibility of developing of a new specialist hospital for elective surgery to avoid the situation where surgery is postponed in general hospitals due to surgeons being called to emergencies.
Mr Snelling said while South Australia had more beds and nurses per head of population, the resources were not being used effectively.
Paper finds inconsistent quality of care
The investigation found patients with the same condition were being kept in for varying lengths of time, depending on the hospital they were admitted to.
It also identified an increased risk of stroke patients dying, depending on the time of day they went into hospital.
Despite meeting averages, the report said there were unacceptable variations in death rates from stroke depending on the time or day of admission.
“Our clinicians have examined the difference in mortality rates for stroke, as an example,” the paper stated.
“We are not delivering consistent quality of care.
“Clearly, we cannot continue to provide services in the same way when faced with evidence like this.”
Mr Snelling said a health summit would be held later this year where the report would be further discussed.
“We need to design a health system that will match our world-class infrastructure – one that embraces innovation, technology and is flexible enough to meet all future challenges,” he said.
“This is just the starting point, there’s still a long way to go.
“We will have a discussion and a consultation process over the next five or six weeks and then my plan is to have a health summit at the end of November.
“It will really articulate a vision for what health needs to look like in South Australia.”