❓ Hon Adele Farina raises concerns about reduced speech therapy services at Harvey Hospital, impacting preschool children. The Minister acknowledges staff shortages and outlines plans to reinstate services and address waitlists.
AnsweredQoN 1384Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
HEALTH — SPEECH THERAPISTS — SOUTH
WEST REGION
1384. Hon ADELE FARINA to the minister
representing the Minister for Health:
(1) Is the
minister aware that a speech therapist was available at Harvey Hospital three
full days a week, although these hours have been cut to five hours a week and,
as a result, Harvey parents with children requiring speech therapy have to
drive to Bunbury to access a speech therapist and due to high demand have been
able to see a speech therapist only once every three months?
(2) Does the
minister agree that for preschool children with glue ear this is a significant
reduction in critical speech therapy services and could impact on the child's
learning?
(3) Will the
minister reinstate the speech therapist hours at Harvey Hospital so that
parents do not have to drive their children to Bunbury for treatment; and, if
not, why not?
(4) What is the waitlist at Harvey
and Bunbury to access a speech therapist?
(5) What is the
wait time for a speech therapist appointment and how frequently are those who
need the service able to access it?
WEST REGION
1384. Hon ADELE FARINA to the minister
representing the Minister for Health:
(1) Is the
minister aware that a speech therapist was available at Harvey Hospital three
full days a week, although these hours have been cut to five hours a week and,
as a result, Harvey parents with children requiring speech therapy have to
drive to Bunbury to access a speech therapist and due to high demand have been
able to see a speech therapist only once every three months?
(2) Does the
minister agree that for preschool children with glue ear this is a significant
reduction in critical speech therapy services and could impact on the child's
learning?
(3) Will the
minister reinstate the speech therapist hours at Harvey Hospital so that
parents do not have to drive their children to Bunbury for treatment; and, if
not, why not?
(4) What is the waitlist at Harvey
and Bunbury to access a speech therapist?
(5) What is the
wait time for a speech therapist appointment and how frequently are those who
need the service able to access it?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice
of the question.
(1) The minister
is advised that a speech therapy service has historically been available at
Harvey Hospital two days a week. Due to recent staff resignations and staff
shortages, this has been reduced to one day a week. Recruitment for the staff
vacancies is currently being undertaken. A small number of clients have been
travelling to Bunbury to access therapy due to flexibility in days and times
that therapy is available.
(2) Glue ear
requires assessment by a general practitioner and, if required, referral to an
audiologist. If hearing has been affected, this may affect speech and language development
and at this point the child would require referral to a speech pathologist.
There are no clients on the waitlist at Harvey to access speech pathology
services.
(3) Once
recruitment to the current vacancies has been finalised, the service at Harvey
Hospital will be reinstated at two days a week.
(4) As at 22
November 2016, the speech therapy waitlist client numbers for Harvey are nil
and Bunbury, 29.
(5) There is no
current wait time at Harvey as there are no clients on the waitlist. The
average wait time for a speech therapy appointment at Bunbury is 33 days. All
referrals are prioritised and a therapy plan is put in place with a prescribed
service intensity based on assessment findings. This therapy may comprise a block
of group sessions, regular individual appointments or a home program with
review every few months. Services are being supplemented with private
contractors, which has minimised any reduction in service intensity.
of the question.
(1) The minister
is advised that a speech therapy service has historically been available at
Harvey Hospital two days a week. Due to recent staff resignations and staff
shortages, this has been reduced to one day a week. Recruitment for the staff
vacancies is currently being undertaken. A small number of clients have been
travelling to Bunbury to access therapy due to flexibility in days and times
that therapy is available.
(2) Glue ear
requires assessment by a general practitioner and, if required, referral to an
audiologist. If hearing has been affected, this may affect speech and language development
and at this point the child would require referral to a speech pathologist.
There are no clients on the waitlist at Harvey to access speech pathology
services.
(3) Once
recruitment to the current vacancies has been finalised, the service at Harvey
Hospital will be reinstated at two days a week.
(4) As at 22
November 2016, the speech therapy waitlist client numbers for Harvey are nil
and Bunbury, 29.
(5) There is no
current wait time at Harvey as there are no clients on the waitlist. The
average wait time for a speech therapy appointment at Bunbury is 33 days. All
referrals are prioritised and a therapy plan is put in place with a prescribed
service intensity based on assessment findings. This therapy may comprise a block
of group sessions, regular individual appointments or a home program with
review every few months. Services are being supplemented with private
contractors, which has minimised any reduction in service intensity.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.