❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Premier about hospital bed capacity and healthcare access given high taxpayer spending. The Premier defends the government's investment and cites COVID-19 impacts on staffing and service delivery.
AnsweredQoN 329Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOSPITALS
— BED CAPACITY
329. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
admission in Parliament yesterday that his government oversees the lowest
number of hospital beds per capita at the highest cost of any state.
A government member interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
A government member interjected.
Ms L. METTAM : The member did say it.
A government member interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Ms L. METTAM : Given that
taxpayers are spending so much on the hospital system, why can Western Australian
taxpayers not trust that they will safely receive the health care they need
when they need it?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : The question is
to the Premier, not to others.
— BED CAPACITY
329. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
admission in Parliament yesterday that his government oversees the lowest
number of hospital beds per capita at the highest cost of any state.
A government member interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
A government member interjected.
Ms L. METTAM : The member did say it.
A government member interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Ms L. METTAM : Given that
taxpayers are spending so much on the hospital system, why can Western Australian
taxpayers not trust that they will safely receive the health care they need
when they need it?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : The question is
to the Premier, not to others.
AnswerView source ↗
One day the Liberal Party says that
we are not investing enough in hospitals, and now it is saying that we are investing in hospitals the most of any state in the
country. One day it is saying there is underinvestment and today it is
admitting what is blatantly clear, because the Productivity Commission says it
in its annual report: Western Australia invests the most in the health system
of any state in Australia per capita bar none. That is the fact of the matter. Western
Australia invests the most per capita of any state in Australia bar none. That
is what Western Australia does. We put more effort into health than other
states do. We have a large state, a diverse population and a lot of very
committed staff who provide health services in some of the most difficult and
remote locations of anywhere in the world.
Overwhelmingly, they do a fantastic job. We get feedback all over the community from people who are grateful for the great public health system in Western Australia.
I will explain it to the member
again. We have gone through a worldwide pandemic in which a great many people
have died and a great many people have become unwell. Like many people in this
room, I have had COVID and it is debilitating. We do not want people who are
infectious going to work. What we have done is to ask people who are infectious
to please stay at home. In fact, that is the rule. Our health staff are
required to furlough—that is, to
stay home if they have COVID, if they are symptomatic or if they are a close
contact and are symptomatic. That means we now have thousands of staff
not at work. Then we have a range of protocols in place that means that
processes have been slowed down within hospitals. When a person arrives at a hospital
now, they have to be triaged outside because
we do not want people who are potentially COVID-positive entering our hospitals
without the triage system identifying them and streaming them. The
member has criticised that, but what were we to do? What was the alternative?
If a person goes to Fiona Stanley Hospital or one of the other hospitals, they
are triaged outside. I experienced it recently myself. When a person goes into
the hospital, they will see all the protocols in place now around the removal
of personal protective equipment. The staff take off the smocks and the gloves
and so forth every time they interact. It is a very extensive and
time-consuming process designed to stop patients becoming infected and, as I said,
we have literally thousands of staff at home. That slows things down. Then we
have more calls. We have record numbers of 000 calls. We have lots of people
presenting with respiratory illnesses. Because some general practitioners are
refusing to see people with respiratory illnesses, they are attending emergency
departments. At many GP practices a person can find a sign on the door that
reads ''If you have a respiratory illness, don't come in.'' All those things are going on. We
encourage people who do not require the services of an emergency department to please seek other forms of care. Some of those people are going
to general practitioners where there is a sign on the door telling them: do not
come in. These are the things we are grappling with.
There are no magic solutions to
these things. We are running international and interstate recruitment
campaigns. We are investing more per capita.
We are putting on more beds. These are the things that are being dealt with
currently in the environment we are
facing. Our health system and our staff—I met lots of them,
particularly in recent weeks —are doing a terrific job under a lot
of pressure. There is a lot of pressure out there because of those factors. We
live in Western Australia, which is an isolated state, and sometimes people do
not see what occurs elsewhere. If we go to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or
anywhere in Australia, exactly the same things are occurring and it is
generally worse because of those factors that I just outlined to the member. I have
outlined it to the member on numerous occasions. I know that she does not hear
it and I know that she does not process it. I expect, in her supplementary
question, that she will repeat some of the banal commentary that she has come
up with before. She will ask a supplementary that does not make sense and she
will not adhere to the standing orders, but, unfortunately, that is our lot.
we are not investing enough in hospitals, and now it is saying that we are investing in hospitals the most of any state in the
country. One day it is saying there is underinvestment and today it is
admitting what is blatantly clear, because the Productivity Commission says it
in its annual report: Western Australia invests the most in the health system
of any state in Australia per capita bar none. That is the fact of the matter. Western
Australia invests the most per capita of any state in Australia bar none. That
is what Western Australia does. We put more effort into health than other
states do. We have a large state, a diverse population and a lot of very
committed staff who provide health services in some of the most difficult and
remote locations of anywhere in the world.
Overwhelmingly, they do a fantastic job. We get feedback all over the community from people who are grateful for the great public health system in Western Australia.
I will explain it to the member
again. We have gone through a worldwide pandemic in which a great many people
have died and a great many people have become unwell. Like many people in this
room, I have had COVID and it is debilitating. We do not want people who are
infectious going to work. What we have done is to ask people who are infectious
to please stay at home. In fact, that is the rule. Our health staff are
required to furlough—that is, to
stay home if they have COVID, if they are symptomatic or if they are a close
contact and are symptomatic. That means we now have thousands of staff
not at work. Then we have a range of protocols in place that means that
processes have been slowed down within hospitals. When a person arrives at a hospital
now, they have to be triaged outside because
we do not want people who are potentially COVID-positive entering our hospitals
without the triage system identifying them and streaming them. The
member has criticised that, but what were we to do? What was the alternative?
If a person goes to Fiona Stanley Hospital or one of the other hospitals, they
are triaged outside. I experienced it recently myself. When a person goes into
the hospital, they will see all the protocols in place now around the removal
of personal protective equipment. The staff take off the smocks and the gloves
and so forth every time they interact. It is a very extensive and
time-consuming process designed to stop patients becoming infected and, as I said,
we have literally thousands of staff at home. That slows things down. Then we
have more calls. We have record numbers of 000 calls. We have lots of people
presenting with respiratory illnesses. Because some general practitioners are
refusing to see people with respiratory illnesses, they are attending emergency
departments. At many GP practices a person can find a sign on the door that
reads ''If you have a respiratory illness, don't come in.'' All those things are going on. We
encourage people who do not require the services of an emergency department to please seek other forms of care. Some of those people are going
to general practitioners where there is a sign on the door telling them: do not
come in. These are the things we are grappling with.
There are no magic solutions to
these things. We are running international and interstate recruitment
campaigns. We are investing more per capita.
We are putting on more beds. These are the things that are being dealt with
currently in the environment we are
facing. Our health system and our staff—I met lots of them,
particularly in recent weeks —are doing a terrific job under a lot
of pressure. There is a lot of pressure out there because of those factors. We
live in Western Australia, which is an isolated state, and sometimes people do
not see what occurs elsewhere. If we go to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or
anywhere in Australia, exactly the same things are occurring and it is
generally worse because of those factors that I just outlined to the member. I have
outlined it to the member on numerous occasions. I know that she does not hear
it and I know that she does not process it. I expect, in her supplementary
question, that she will repeat some of the banal commentary that she has come
up with before. She will ask a supplementary that does not make sense and she
will not adhere to the standing orders, but, unfortunately, that is our lot.
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