❓ Opposition questions the Minister for Health regarding a significant increase in ambulance ramping at metropolitan hospitals, attributing it to the Premier's failure to address the issue. The Minister acknowledges the problem, blaming bed shortages and delays in hospital construction under the previous Labor government.
AnsweredQoN 676Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
METROPOLITAN
HOSPITALS — AMBULANCE RAMPING
676. Mr
R.H. COOK to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the 142 per cent increase in ambulance ramping at
metropolitan hospitals, including a 174 per cent increase in metropolitan
general hospitals in the September quarter, representing over 4 500 hours of
ambulance ramp time and patients left stranded in the Premier's
struggling hospital system.
(1) Is a 142 per
cent increase what the Premier meant when he claimed in this place in May that
he was fixing the problem?
(2) Having said
in May that we need a different system in place and that system has clearly now
failed, will the Premier now concede that he has lost control of the ambulance
ramping issue?
HOSPITALS — AMBULANCE RAMPING
676. Mr
R.H. COOK to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the 142 per cent increase in ambulance ramping at
metropolitan hospitals, including a 174 per cent increase in metropolitan
general hospitals in the September quarter, representing over 4 500 hours of
ambulance ramp time and patients left stranded in the Premier's
struggling hospital system.
(1) Is a 142 per
cent increase what the Premier meant when he claimed in this place in May that
he was fixing the problem?
(2) Having said
in May that we need a different system in place and that system has clearly now
failed, will the Premier now concede that he has lost control of the ambulance
ramping issue?
AnswerView source ↗
Mr Speaker —
Mr F.M. Logan :
Resign! Do the right thing!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : Okay! What a good idea!
Mr F.M. Logan :
What a great politician!
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : United Voice will give you a job!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : Golf clubs and fishing rod! I can hardly wait!
Ambulance ramping is an issue in this state, and I accept
that—I accept that that is the case.
Mr
R.H. Cook : You should not make light of it.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : I am not making light of it. I said that it is an issue, and I
accept it. It has been a significant problem in our hospital system because of
the lack of health beds within our system to be able to keep up with the
growing demand within our hospitals—an ever-growing demand. We have
seen a seven to eight per cent increase in demand—in fact, even 10 per
cent across most of our hospitals, and up to 18 per cent at Joondalup hospital—coming
through our emergency departments. There are a number of reasons for this. Part
of it is lack of access to general practitioners. We all know there are not
enough GPs in the system. In fact, Western Australia has one of the lowest GP
rates per head of population in this country. So when patients are sick and
they have nowhere else to go, they will go to our emergency departments. We
have a limited number of beds. The number of beds is growing. The number of
beds has been growing since we opened Rockingham hospital. It is set to grow
again early next year when we open the new beds at Rockingham hospital. It is
set to grow again in 2014 when we open Fiona Stanley Hospital, and in 2015 when
we open the new Midland hospital.
But, as we know, all of those
projects were due to be completed—particularly Joondalup and Fiona
Stanley hospitals—at a much earlier date. The clinical services
framework, which showed when we would need more beds in this state, showed that
we desperately needed Fiona Stanley to be constructed in 2010. That is what the
Labor Party committed to. A year later, it was 2011, and a year later it was
2012. Every year we progressed through the Labor years of government, the
construction of that hospital was delayed by another year. So at the end of the
day, it is four years too late—four years too late—to give us
the beds that we need to provide for the patient growth numbers within this
state. If members opposite had done their job when they were in government, we
would not have this problem in ours.
Mr F.M. Logan :
Resign! Do the right thing!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : Okay! What a good idea!
Mr F.M. Logan :
What a great politician!
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : United Voice will give you a job!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : Golf clubs and fishing rod! I can hardly wait!
Ambulance ramping is an issue in this state, and I accept
that—I accept that that is the case.
Mr
R.H. Cook : You should not make light of it.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : I am not making light of it. I said that it is an issue, and I
accept it. It has been a significant problem in our hospital system because of
the lack of health beds within our system to be able to keep up with the
growing demand within our hospitals—an ever-growing demand. We have
seen a seven to eight per cent increase in demand—in fact, even 10 per
cent across most of our hospitals, and up to 18 per cent at Joondalup hospital—coming
through our emergency departments. There are a number of reasons for this. Part
of it is lack of access to general practitioners. We all know there are not
enough GPs in the system. In fact, Western Australia has one of the lowest GP
rates per head of population in this country. So when patients are sick and
they have nowhere else to go, they will go to our emergency departments. We
have a limited number of beds. The number of beds is growing. The number of
beds has been growing since we opened Rockingham hospital. It is set to grow
again early next year when we open the new beds at Rockingham hospital. It is
set to grow again in 2014 when we open Fiona Stanley Hospital, and in 2015 when
we open the new Midland hospital.
But, as we know, all of those
projects were due to be completed—particularly Joondalup and Fiona
Stanley hospitals—at a much earlier date. The clinical services
framework, which showed when we would need more beds in this state, showed that
we desperately needed Fiona Stanley to be constructed in 2010. That is what the
Labor Party committed to. A year later, it was 2011, and a year later it was
2012. Every year we progressed through the Labor years of government, the
construction of that hospital was delayed by another year. So at the end of the
day, it is four years too late—four years too late—to give us
the beds that we need to provide for the patient growth numbers within this
state. If members opposite had done their job when they were in government, we
would not have this problem in ours.
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