Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (13:00): My question is addressed to the Minister for Health. Will the Minister please update the House on how the Minns Labor Government is improving access to health care for families in south-western Sydney while helping to take pressure off some of the State's busiest hospitals?
Mr RYAN PARK (Keira—Minister for Health, Minister for Regional Health, and Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast) (13:00): I thank the member for Campbelltown, and Parliamentary Secretary for a great question on behalf of his community and the people of south-west Sydney that he and our representatives on this side of the Chamber represent so very well every day. Some members may or may not know that Campbelltown Hospital and Liverpool Hospital are arguably the two busiest hospitals in New South Wales. They are in the top echelon of busiest hospitals in the country. Recent figures show that Campbelltown Hospital has had around 2,015 presentations to its emergency department over a weekly period. At Liverpool it was around 1,995 presentations.
They are massive hospitals, serving huge and growing communities. I give a shout-out to Grant Isedale from Campbelltown and Camden hospitals and Scott McGrath from Liverpool Hospital—two leaders who lead those hospitals with their teams in remarkable ways given the huge numbers of presentations that they see every week. The reforms that we have implemented and the reforms that we are in the process of implementing are making a difference, but there is a lot more work to do. In terms of performance around triage category 2 patients—which are some of our sickest patients in New South Wales—when we came to office, around 45 per cent of category 2 patients were seen on time at Campbelltown Hospital. We have got that up to around 65 per cent. There is still a lot more work to do, but that is off the back of significant reforms, particularly our plan that is focused on three areas: more beds, more services and more staff.
Today I outline to the House that we are also investing $35 million into a new integrated health hub at Campbelltown Hospital in south‑western Sydney as a way to take pressure off that very busy hospital. The hub will be able to deliver primary care services—so GP-type services—preventative care services, including child and family services, as well as interventional and procedural services. The $35 million hub is the first of such hubs of its kind, and it comes off the back of great advocacy for this type of reform by the member for Campbelltown and other Government members who represent south‑western Sydney. It will help growing communities have affordable access to health care. [Extension of time]
All services will be bulk-billed. All services will be accessible because our reforms are about two things: making sure that health care is affordable, particularly with the cost-of-living challenges that families face at the moment, and making sure that it is accessible. We are driving that every single day with our reforms and our changes. No government can afford to continue to do health care in the same way. We have to be constantly looking at ways to do things differently. That is exactly what we are doing with the integrated health hubs. But that is at risk with a coalition led by One Nation, which has already said very clearly that 100,000 public servants are in its line of sight.
As the Minister responsible for around 180,000 public servants, I will be clear. Those sorts of cuts cannot be made without cutting from our State's hospitals and health services nurses, paramedics and allied healthcare staff. Joining up to a coalition that is hell‑bent on seeing those types of cuts is signing up to fewer services, fewer beds and fewer staff. That is no way to reform and improve the health services that our communities rely on. No‑one I have met across more than 220 hospitals that we are responsible for has said, "We would do things a lot better with fewer healthcare staff." But that is the plan of members on the other side of the Chamber. That is the plan from One Nation. That is why it is so important that we invest in more staff, more services and more hospitals, including the services at Campbelltown.
