❓ The Minister for Health responds to a question regarding a meeting with parents and consumer groups about issues at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, outlining actions to address infrastructure, staffing, and process concerns raised.
AnsweredQoN 295Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PRINCESS MARGARET HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN
295. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Health:
Can the minister please inform the house of the outcomes of
his recent meeting with parents and consumer groups willing to assist with
issues currently affecting Princess Margaret Hospital for Children?
295. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Health:
Can the minister please inform the house of the outcomes of
his recent meeting with parents and consumer groups willing to assist with
issues currently affecting Princess Margaret Hospital for Children?
AnswerView source ↗
The students asked me at lunchtime whether I would get any
questions, and I said, ''I think I'll be getting one.''
Little did I know that I would get two in a row. This is unusual, guys.
Several members interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : A
hardworking minister; exactly.
I want to talk about a meeting that I had just last night at
Princess Margaret Hospital that was arranged somewhat in response to some of
the issues that have been raised by the parents, particularly from the oncology
ward, about the standard of care in that hospital. We put together a little
team that was largely going to look at some of the critical issues of
infrastructure—chairs, couches, televisions and what was available—recognising
that until we move to the new hospital, the issue of space is just not able to
be addressed, because in a hospital that is 60 years old, there is no
additional space. I have to say that this particular meeting is one of the best
things I have ever been involved with. It had a variety of people. We had
Rosanna Capolingua, who is the chair of the governing council, and Chris
McGowan, who is the deputy chair but is also from Silver Chain—he
chaired the meeting. We had the mothers of three children—those
children either have, or have had, cancer—in ward 3B, where a lot of
the issues have been. We had the chair of Telethon Adventurers, who is also the
father of a child who passed away in 2011. We had representatives from
Kalparrin, HeartKids Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis WA and Carers WA. We
had the chief executive officer and some of the health staff. I was impressed
with all the people who were there and the presentations they made to us about
issues that could be resolved, but particularly the three parents who were
there. They were emotional at times, but their input was very constructive and
they very much understood the difficulties there. What came out of that meeting
was that we need to replace some chairs and that some things there need to be
addressed. We recognise, as a government, that we need to look at this. We are
currently looking at a business case that will expand staff numbers. There are
some critical areas in which we need to grow those staff numbers, and we are
looking at that. However, in between all of that, there are some simple
governance and management issues at that hospital that we should be fixing. A
good example of that was from the mother of a child who, following
chemotherapy, had a condition called neutropoenia, which is a low level of
cells that fight infection. She has to take the child to the pharmacy, where
other kids are getting antibodies for an infection, and wait up to three hours
to get the medications she needs. Some of those people getting medications
could, if we organised things better, get them from a private pharmacy or from
a peripheral hospital where collection could be arranged. I am talking about
those sorts of simple process issues that we did not know were occurring until
we sat down with the parents and gave them the opportunity to have a say.
I want to congratulate all those
parents who came to the meeting, and I give the commitment from this government
that we will follow through very strongly on the issues they have put forward
and give them further opportunities to be involved in making sure that we get
the processes right. I am talking about not just the furniture and the health
services staff, but also the processes in the way the hospital is being managed
to a standard that will provide those children with much better care.
questions, and I said, ''I think I'll be getting one.''
Little did I know that I would get two in a row. This is unusual, guys.
Several members interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : A
hardworking minister; exactly.
I want to talk about a meeting that I had just last night at
Princess Margaret Hospital that was arranged somewhat in response to some of
the issues that have been raised by the parents, particularly from the oncology
ward, about the standard of care in that hospital. We put together a little
team that was largely going to look at some of the critical issues of
infrastructure—chairs, couches, televisions and what was available—recognising
that until we move to the new hospital, the issue of space is just not able to
be addressed, because in a hospital that is 60 years old, there is no
additional space. I have to say that this particular meeting is one of the best
things I have ever been involved with. It had a variety of people. We had
Rosanna Capolingua, who is the chair of the governing council, and Chris
McGowan, who is the deputy chair but is also from Silver Chain—he
chaired the meeting. We had the mothers of three children—those
children either have, or have had, cancer—in ward 3B, where a lot of
the issues have been. We had the chair of Telethon Adventurers, who is also the
father of a child who passed away in 2011. We had representatives from
Kalparrin, HeartKids Western Australia, Cystic Fibrosis WA and Carers WA. We
had the chief executive officer and some of the health staff. I was impressed
with all the people who were there and the presentations they made to us about
issues that could be resolved, but particularly the three parents who were
there. They were emotional at times, but their input was very constructive and
they very much understood the difficulties there. What came out of that meeting
was that we need to replace some chairs and that some things there need to be
addressed. We recognise, as a government, that we need to look at this. We are
currently looking at a business case that will expand staff numbers. There are
some critical areas in which we need to grow those staff numbers, and we are
looking at that. However, in between all of that, there are some simple
governance and management issues at that hospital that we should be fixing. A
good example of that was from the mother of a child who, following
chemotherapy, had a condition called neutropoenia, which is a low level of
cells that fight infection. She has to take the child to the pharmacy, where
other kids are getting antibodies for an infection, and wait up to three hours
to get the medications she needs. Some of those people getting medications
could, if we organised things better, get them from a private pharmacy or from
a peripheral hospital where collection could be arranged. I am talking about
those sorts of simple process issues that we did not know were occurring until
we sat down with the parents and gave them the opportunity to have a say.
I want to congratulate all those
parents who came to the meeting, and I give the commitment from this government
that we will follow through very strongly on the issues they have put forward
and give them further opportunities to be involved in making sure that we get
the processes right. I am talking about not just the furniture and the health
services staff, but also the processes in the way the hospital is being managed
to a standard that will provide those children with much better care.
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