Ian Gilfillan: Australian Democrats in the SA Parliament

	Extract from Hansard Legislative Council 17 May 2001

Ian Gilfillan Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council		Parliament Index 2001 Autumn Sitting Index Browse by Subject Search all Democrats material About the SA Parliament Hansard on line

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the-

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: -Minister for Disability Services a question relating to the Make it Safe fall prevention program.

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: I asked in this place on 5 April a question regarding the fall prevention home assessments, and the minister responded to that question. Following that up, and some publicity of it, the minister has been sent today an email from the SE Falls Prevention in the Elderly project officer, Deb Kirby. The minister may not have had a chance to see this email yet, in which case I quite understand that he will not know its contents. I will read a couple of paragraphs from the email so that the minister is aware of the basis for the question. It is addressed to minister, and it reads:

I have just received a copy of Hansard transcript involving questions asked by Ian Gilfillan on services to prevent falls in the elderly. I believe you should be aware of the SE Falls Prevention in the Elderly project currently in its second year, being conducted by the Limestone Coast division of general practice.

I have attached the action plan, the first year's statistics and a commentary on the results of the first year written by Dr Doug Brown, the project manager. The significant reduction in the number of hip fractures in the region and the amount of money saved through the project's strategies is. . . worth noting. . . .Dr Brown is most concerned that the Make It Safe subsidy is still not available in the country; that the uptake of home assessments had been slow for us. . .

Accompanying this-and the minister will have it, if he has not already seen it-is a commentary on fall prevention for the first and second six months of the program. Point 11 of the statistics reveals that during the year 25 hip fractures have been admitted to the Mount Gambier Hospital, compared with an average of 55 per year for the past five years and 61 in the financial year 1998-99; 19 occurred in the first six months and six in the second. Since most hip fractures would go to Mount Gambier for their surgical repair, this is a significant reduction in the regional incidence of a major fracture for this age group. This has saved the state government some $360 000 in one year for hip fracture repairs and rehabilitation.

The South-East group has told me that the only reason that this program was able to get up was that $30 000 of federal money was received, and that the community collected $25 000 for it to go ahead. They claim that Make It Safe, or whatever it has been replaced with in the change to domiciliary care, is just not getting to the rural areas, and particularly not in the South-East region. My understanding is that the project is to finish in April next year. Will the minister give a guarantee (and they plead for this) that there will be continuing funding for the program to go on past April next year? Will he ensure that the Make It Safe program or its successor (assuming it is being run by the Department of Human Services, but this is somewhat uncertain), that is, domiciliary care, will be available to the South-East falls prevention project and to other rural regions?

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (Minister for Disability Services): I thank the honourable member for his question. It is a pity that he did not provide me with the information before asking the question. He asked whether I have seen an email apparently sent to me today about this matter. I have not seen that email, but I will certainly make inquiries and read it when I find it. The honourable member talks about the South- East falls prevention program conducted at the Limestone Coast. I am sure it is a worthy program, and I will look at the evaluation of it which is being conducted. However, something of a rearguard action is being undertaken by certain people who previously provided this service through the Make It Safe program.

As I told the honourable member in response to an earlier question that he asked in the Council, as a result of an evaluation conducted within the Department of Human Services, it has been decided to transfer the falls prevention programs to domiciliary care services through whom appropriate assessments are being made. I am advised that the program is highly successful, and it is anticipated that it will be at least as successful and as at least as effective-if not more-than the previous program.

I will certainly look at the reports, the email and the evaluation to which the honourable member refers and bring back a more detailed response if that is called for. In his question the honourable member asked whether funding to this program can be guaranteed. I am not in a position to guarantee the continuation of funding of this or any other program which is currently the subject of evaluation. Once the evaluation is completed and examined, a determination will be made and, presumably, there will be a recommendation to ministers about the best way in which the South Australian community can address the very real issue of fractures-hip and leg fractures particularly-amongst older members of our community. We are committed to having an effective program and we will have an effective program, not only in the metropolitan area but throughout the whole state.

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: Can the minister indicate to the Council how the so-called success of the domiciliary care run program is measured? Is he able to give detail of the performance of domiciliary care in the area of the South-East Limestone Coast?

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: I will take that question on notice and bring back a more considered response in due course.