❓ Opposition questions the government's handling of ambulance ramping and hospital resourcing. The Minister rejects the premise, highlighting record health investment and pandemic preparedness.
AnsweredQoN 244Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
AMBULANCE RAMPING
244. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
Given that the budget papers and
ramping figures going back to 2017 clearly show that the McGowan government has
under-resourced and mismanaged our hospitals, creating a worsening ambulance
ramping crisis, I ask whether the Minister for Health can rule out the state
taking over ambulance services from St John Ambulance?
244. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
Given that the budget papers and
ramping figures going back to 2017 clearly show that the McGowan government has
under-resourced and mismanaged our hospitals, creating a worsening ambulance
ramping crisis, I ask whether the Minister for Health can rule out the state
taking over ambulance services from St John Ambulance?
AnswerView source ↗
That is a completely confused question.
The member has conflated a whole bunch of issues and tried to shove it into two
sentences. Let me try to unpick some of it and attempt to answer.
First of all, the budget shows
record investment in WA Health. That is what the budget shows. The budget shows
a $3.2 billion investment in our health system by this government. That is what
it shows. It also shows an increase in the
number of health workers of around 10 per cent across the board over the last
12 months alone. Around a 10 per cent increase—that is
significant. We have recruited at least 1 200 nurses into the system. We took
on 440 medical graduates earlier this year,
unlike the previous government under which recruitment shrank. I absolutely
reject the premise of the member's question. Our budget and our record
shows record investment into the system.
The member referred to ambulance
services. We have had a tough month, there is no question. We are essentially in the middle of our COVID surge. That is what
March has shown; that was prepared and planned for. What we have shown with our health system is that we have
prepared and planned for that surge. The system is holding up incredibly well. I am incredibly proud of the health system we have in Western Australia.
I am deeply grateful to the nurses, doctors and health support staff who are
doing extra shifts, doing overtime and filling the gaps of their furloughed
colleagues and for making sure that our health system still operates and is
functional.
I reject the question. I reject the
premise of the question. We have one of the best health systems in the world.
We are in the middle of our pandemic peak.
If we look at what has happened in the rest of the world when they were at their peak, we see that there is absolutely no comparison with the outstanding
management of this government of this pandemic.
The member has conflated a whole bunch of issues and tried to shove it into two
sentences. Let me try to unpick some of it and attempt to answer.
First of all, the budget shows
record investment in WA Health. That is what the budget shows. The budget shows
a $3.2 billion investment in our health system by this government. That is what
it shows. It also shows an increase in the
number of health workers of around 10 per cent across the board over the last
12 months alone. Around a 10 per cent increase—that is
significant. We have recruited at least 1 200 nurses into the system. We took
on 440 medical graduates earlier this year,
unlike the previous government under which recruitment shrank. I absolutely
reject the premise of the member's question. Our budget and our record
shows record investment into the system.
The member referred to ambulance
services. We have had a tough month, there is no question. We are essentially in the middle of our COVID surge. That is what
March has shown; that was prepared and planned for. What we have shown with our health system is that we have
prepared and planned for that surge. The system is holding up incredibly well. I am incredibly proud of the health system we have in Western Australia.
I am deeply grateful to the nurses, doctors and health support staff who are
doing extra shifts, doing overtime and filling the gaps of their furloughed
colleagues and for making sure that our health system still operates and is
functional.
I reject the question. I reject the
premise of the question. We have one of the best health systems in the world.
We are in the middle of our pandemic peak.
If we look at what has happened in the rest of the world when they were at their peak, we see that there is absolutely no comparison with the outstanding
management of this government of this pandemic.
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