Shadow Finance Minister Rob Lucas said today Treasurer Kevin Foley has twice on separate occasions this morning referred to the cost of the RAH project as $1.8 billion instead of the previously announced $1.7 billion.

When challenged on ABC radio this morning about a $100 million blowout an embarrassed and flustered Mr Foley could only stammer out it was an ‘approximate’ figure.

The Federal Liberal Coalition’s multi-billion dollar health and hospital policy announced today will assist to alleviate the crisis within the South Australian health system.

Dr McFetridge, Shadow Minister for Health, said that South Australia urgently needed more hospital and mental health beds to alleviate hospital waiting times.

Health Shock - $210 million blowout and now facing $360 million per year budget cut.

Shadow Finance Minister Rob Lucas said today the CEO of SA Health, Dr Tony Sherbon, confirmed SA Health had over spent by $210 million last year and the Sustainable Budget Commission (SBC) had told it to prepare annual budget cuts of $360 million per year.

It is clear that Treasurer Foley has lost control of his budget and that his financial mismanagement and incompetence has meant that the billions of dollars extra from GST and property taxes received over the last 6 years have been wasted.

Local GP’s and doctors in country areas are alarmed at the growing number of whooping cough cases they are seeing on a weekly basis.

Dr Duncan McFetridge, Shadow Minister for Health said that doctors in country areas are particularly concerned because there are a growing number of parents and grandparents who no longer have immunity to whooping cough and are able to pass it on to young children.

The State Liberal Party has today called on Premier Rann and Prime Minister Gillard to support the Coalition’s policy to introduce improved superannuation pension indexation arrangements for Veterans and Ex-Service Personnel.

Ex-Serviceman and Shadow Minister for Defence Industries, Martin Hamilton-Smith, introduced a motion to Parliament calling on the Rann and Gillard Labor Governments to support the Coalition’s policy.

The Rann Labor Government is set for an ugly and protracted confrontation with South Australia’s overworked and under resourced nurses.

Today marks the deadline set by SA nurses for a response from the Rann Government to  calls for a nine per cent pay rise over three years but, to date there has been no response from the government.

Exercise Your Mood Week, is being held across Australia from 11 to 19 September 2010 to underline the importance of exercise for maintaining good mental health.

Those participating will help to raise funds to support the work of the Black Dog Institute which is a not-for-profit, educational, research, clinical and community-orientated facility offering specialist expertise in depression and bipolar disorder.

The Liberal Opposition today accused Health Minister John Hill of ignoring the urgent need for information technology upgrade of our public health system for the past 18 months putting patient lives at risk.

“While Health minister John Hill plays with his I-Pad he should download the report from the Chief Information Officer given to senior health bureaucrats some EIGHTEEN MONTHS ago warning of the need to spend a BILLION DOLLARS on upgrades for ICT in our Hospitals,” said Dr McFetridge, Shadow Minister for Health.

The contact centre to which hospital staff report patient safety incidents has had its opening hours slashed limiting opportunities for incidents to be reported.

The SA Incident Management (AIMS) Contact Centre was previously open 24 hours a day seven days a week but now is only accessible five days a week from 6.30 am – 10.30pm.

Duncan McFetridge, Shadow Health Minister said the cuts to opening hours of the incidents call centre has occurred at a time when reports of accidents, incidents and injuries have skyrocketed in South Australian public hospitals as revealed in South Australia’s Patient Safety Report 2008-2009.

South Australians are waiting longer today for elective surgery than they were 10 years ago as revealed in the State of Our Public Hospitals June 2010.

The State of Our Public Hospitals June 2010 report by the Federal Department of Health and Ageing provides a detailed report card on public hospital performance in the 2008-09 financial year.

Duncan McFetridge, Shadow Health Minister said that the latest report reveals that SA public hospitals continue to fall below national average standards across many areas of health service delivery.

Patient infections in South Australia’s public hospital system have increased by 114 percent since 2006.

The South Australian Patient Safety Report 2008-2009 released today reveals a health system in crisis with the number of patient safety incidents rising by almost 30 per cent in just three years.

The Liberal Opposition has been informed that Pathology Services will no longer be on site at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital compromising patient safety and critical diagnostic clinical services essential for acute patient care.

Following concerns raised by the Opposition and pathologists in January this year, the Government has established a committee, headed by David Panter, to discuss the problems with pathologists and find a solution to the design and planning bungle at the rail yards hospital.

The Liberal Opposition today called on the State Government scrap the failed UK policy on four hour emergency department targets.

Shadow Minister for Health, Dr Duncan McFetridge, said today that the four hour emergency department target will fail South Australians just as it has in the UK. 

The Rann Government is seizing the land and assets of South Australian country hospitals and health services.

Dr Duncan McFetridge, Shadow Minister for Health, said that Country Health SA had directed Country Health Advisory Committee’s (HAC’s) to transfer the land titles of country hospitals and health services over to the Minister for Health.

“The flimsy rationale being used to justify this acquisition of health assets is to minimise future administrative workloads in Country Health SA,” Dr McFetridge said.

Ambulance staff and paramedics are being used to cover after hours crisis medical emergency situations in some South Australian country towns because of failed contract negotiations between Country Health SA and local doctors.

Dr Duncan McFetridge, Shadow Minister for Health said that he’s been informed that in at least one country town a paramedic has had to treat people in an after hours emergency services centre because there was no doctor available.

Following the funding debacle of the Adelaide Oval redevelopment the Acting Premier Kevin Foley must come clean on the $1.7 billion cost of the new RAH.

The Liberal opposition today claimed that the two preferred tenders for the project have come in hundreds of million of dollars over the original cost.

The rise in the number of children in Pt Pirie who have above normal lead levels is an indicator that the Rann Government has failed the Pt Pirie community.

Duncan McFetridge, Shadow Health Minister said that Minister for Health, John Hill, and Paul Caica, Minister for the Environment’s attempt to pass all responsibility for the rise in children’s lead levels to smelter operator Nyrstar is a cop out.

Leaking rooves in wards and clinical areas at the Repatriation Hospital Daw Park has been ongoing for the past five years.

Duncan McFetridge, Shadow Health Minister said that the Rann Government stands condemned for overseeing the systematic decay of the health infrastructure in SA.

“On radio this morning the Southern Adelaide Health Service confirmed that there have been at least two incidences of serious leaks in wards and in the operating theatre at the Repatriation Hospital in the last few weeks, “Dr Mc Feteridge said.

Kevin Rudd's $5 billion tobacco tax crackdown - a push by Labor to ban brand logos from cigarette packs and increase tax by more than $2 a packet –should all be reinvested in assisting smokers stop the habit.

Shadow Minister for Substance Abuse Dr Duncan McFetridge calls on the Rudd Government to spend the extra billions in tax grabs on directly assisting smokers stop the deadly habit and provide free nicotine patches for them.

Dr Duncan McFetridge, Shadow Minister for Health, said today that Mike Rann’s copy-cat UK policy where 95 per cent of patients in hospital Emergency Departments are seen within 4-hour government target is a farce.

“Labor has not thought through the adoption of a failed UK health policy which has been has implemented on the back of numerous guided overseas jaunts to the United Kingdom by Health Department Executives funded by the South Australian taxpayer,” said Dr McFetridge.