Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Services, Health and Wellbeing) Share this | Hansard source

I have questions for the minister as well as questions for the parliamentary secretary. Minister, the National Health and Hospitals Network agreement states that the final number and boundaries of Local Hospital Networks will be primarily a matter for the states to resolve. It also states that the boundaries will be resolved bilaterally, between the state health ministers and the Commonwealth health minister. Is the minister aware that after this agreement was signed, the South Australian health minister declared that he would be establishing one health service for the metropolitan area, and that this metropolitan health service will cover seven full-service acute hospitals running from Elizabeth to Noarlunga—from the Lyell McEwin Hospital, to the Noarlunga hospital—and is in fact more centralised than what we currently have? Will the minister agree to have South Australia’s seven major hospitals, including three major referral hospitals, in the one Local Hospital Network? Is the minister also aware that after Tasmania signed the National Health and Hospitals Network agreement, the Tasmanian health minister indicated in early May that her preference was for a single Local Hospital Network for all of Tasmania? Will this be acceptable to the Commonwealth government? Minister, how is this consistent with your claim in the $10 million television ads that these networks will be run locally when it is quite clear that the state governments are not prepared to facilitate truly Local Hospital Networks?

My questions to the parliamentary secretary are on the Organ and Tissue Donation Authority. I ask: when were you advised, and by whom, of the resignation of the chief executive officer of the Organ and Tissue Donation Authority, Karen Murphy? Parliamentary secretary, can you say what advice you were given for the reasons for Ms Murphy’s departure? Did the department raise any concerns with you about the authority’s administration prior to the departure of Ms Murphy? If so, can you detail these concerns and can you provide the dates on which any audits were conducted into the administration of the Organ and Tissue Donation Authority and their findings?

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