The South Australian government says 48 new beds at the Noarlunga Hospital will come online this week. It's part of the government's promise to add 600 hospital beds across the state, but the Australian Medical Association says more needs to be done to improve the state of the South Australian health system.
00:00Brand new and ready to go, these 24 acute care beds and 24 mental health beds are set to open to patients from Tuesday, increasing Norlunga Hospital's capacity by more than 65%.
00:16This is the biggest ever expansion of Norlunga Hospital in its history.
00:20The $74 million expansion includes a gym, family lounges and outdoor areas in the mental health space.
00:28It's been designed with people with lived experience in mental health, working with our clinicians as well to make sure that we can get this design right.
00:36The Australian Medical Association has welcomed the expansion.
00:40It is a step towards addressing the issue of wait times.
00:44The AMA's latest report has found emergency department wait times for mental health patients in SA are some of the worst in the country,
00:52with one in 10 patients waiting more than 35 hours for admission, while the average wait is over 11 hours.
00:59It is not just additional capacity, but the ability to provide additional mental health services in the community that is a key to solving the long term problem.
01:10The AMA is calling on both the government and the opposition to release comprehensive health strategies ahead of the state election.
01:17It is a difficult problem, but we elect governments to solve difficult problems.
01:22The opposition says it will improve GP access and extend opening hours.
01:27We'll be announcing a suite of policies dedicated to mental health.
01:31This week I'm actually meeting with some significant stakeholders in the mental health space and we'll have more to say then too.
01:36The government says it's on track to add 130 dedicated mental health beds across the state, while continuing to invest in preventative health.
01:45Doctors have been calling for this for decades and decades, and they now have a government which is delivering them.
01:52They're working with an ongoing effort to keep up with immense demand.
01:55We'll be working with an ongoing effort to keep up with immense demand.
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