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More public patients will be treated in a private South Australian hospital under new plans to reduce pressure on Adelaide's health system. It comes as the state's peak medical body warns nearly a third of SAGPs could close if payroll tax changes are implemented.

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00:00 Dealing with ambulance ramping and high hospital demand across Adelaide remains a significant
00:07 challenge.
00:08 To try and stop scenes like this at Flinders Medical Centre and no longer, 25 beds at Calvary
00:14 Private in the CBD will take public patients to free up space.
00:18 We've been able to use some excess capacity that they've had within their building because
00:23 we are taking every possible opportunity to add extra capacity.
00:28 Where patients will go will depend on a selection criteria used by clinicians.
00:33 A six month agreement, so that will obviously take us well beyond winter with the potential
00:39 to extend that if it's successful as well.
00:41 Frankly, this is a desperate government who is trying to deliver on its election commitment
00:46 that they overreached on.
00:47 Handling mental health patients remains another challenge in EDs.
00:52 To help, the Margaret Tobin Centre at Flinders will get an extra 10 beds costing $30 million.
00:57 Having staff for expanded services across the network looms as the next hurdle.
01:02 We expect we're going to need perhaps a couple of hundred extra staff all up across the system.
01:08 Fortunately we've got a couple of years and we're already well into planning.
01:11 GPs are planning to leave their profession according to the AMA if the state rolls out
01:16 a new payroll tax regime for doctors.
01:19 It claims as many as 30% are considering shutting their doors because of the potential change.
01:25 We know that this is going to have catastrophic consequences right across the health system
01:30 and whichever way you look at it, this is a lose-lose for patients and for practices.
01:35 Treasurer Stephen Mulligan says the changes will bring GPs into line with other health
01:39 professionals.
01:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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