❓ Opposition Leader McGowan questions Premier Barnett about staff shortages, service impacts, and potential sanctions for clinicians speaking out at Fiona Stanley Hospital. The Premier defends the hospital, downplays the issues, and criticises the leaking of information.
AnsweredQoN 1Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FIONA STANLEY HOSPITAL — CLINICIANS'
COMMENTS
1. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
Mr Speaker, it is great to see you
again and it is good to see everyone back here for 2016. Can I begin question
time, with your indulgence, Mr Speaker, by congratulating the member for
Scarborough on her ascension to the role of Deputy Premier.
I refer to reports on Channel Nine
last night that senior clinicians will be punished if they speak out about
their concerns with the health system.
(1) Can the
Premier confirm that surgeries have been cut at Fiona Stanley Hospital this
week due to staff shortages?
(2) Can he confirm that theatres
have been closed and services impacted at Fiona Stanley Hospital?
(3) What
sanctions will clinicians face if they continue to speak out about their
concerns for patient safety?
COMMENTS
1. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
Mr Speaker, it is great to see you
again and it is good to see everyone back here for 2016. Can I begin question
time, with your indulgence, Mr Speaker, by congratulating the member for
Scarborough on her ascension to the role of Deputy Premier.
I refer to reports on Channel Nine
last night that senior clinicians will be punished if they speak out about
their concerns with the health system.
(1) Can the
Premier confirm that surgeries have been cut at Fiona Stanley Hospital this
week due to staff shortages?
(2) Can he confirm that theatres
have been closed and services impacted at Fiona Stanley Hospital?
(3) What
sanctions will clinicians face if they continue to speak out about their
concerns for patient safety?
AnswerView source ↗
May I also
welcome members back and wish all members the best for this year.
(1)–(3) Obviously,
that question probably should have been directed to the health minister;
however, I will make some comment. I think the report from one of the senior
staff members at Fiona Stanley Hospital indicated that the interruption to
surgery would affect two people only; not the figures that were bandied around
in the media—two people. Can I make the point that in any large
hospital, whether it is public or private, anywhere in Australia, on a weekly
basis, there will be issues to be dealt with. Bear in mind that Fiona Stanley
deals with the sickest people in our community, those most severely injured,
and deals with very, very large numbers. It is not designed to have long stays;
there is a continual turnover. I, and I am sure most members, have been to Fiona
Stanley. It is impossible to not be impressed with the quality of service, the
physical arrangement of the building and the care and attention of all support
staff there. As members may know, my family has had some personal involvement—a
family member—with Fiona Stanley, and there is nothing that I or my
wife could criticise about the quality of care and service that is available
there. Things will happen in hospitals. They are complex organisations dealing
with complex situations—often people are distressed, often people are
drug affected and the like. I think we need as a community to praise and
support the men and women who work in that hospital.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : That is what we need to do. There is no doubt the relentless
criticism of a small group in our community, including members opposite, is
damaging the morale of people working in that hospital. I call on the people of
this state who have been patients in Fiona Stanley Hospital, or their family or
friends, to come out and speak about their experiences. It will not be perfect—of
course it will not—but I would say that the vast, vast majority have
had excellent care. The leaking of internal memos and the like, that is not the
Australian way. That is not the way to do it.
Several members interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : It is not the Australian way. But I tell members what is the
Australian way.
Mr
D.A. Templeman : Pull out the first cliche for the year.
The
SPEAKER : I call the first person to order for the year: the member for
Mandurah. Let the Premier finish.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : As to the first point of the question: if medical staff or
other staff, or indeed members of the public, see something wrong, raise it
with the hospital.
Mr
R.H. Cook : They did.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : But raise it in a constructive way. People employed within
our public health system are subject to the standards set by the Public Sector
Commission—they are. But is this government going to go around and
punish people? No, that is not the Australian way either.
welcome members back and wish all members the best for this year.
(1)–(3) Obviously,
that question probably should have been directed to the health minister;
however, I will make some comment. I think the report from one of the senior
staff members at Fiona Stanley Hospital indicated that the interruption to
surgery would affect two people only; not the figures that were bandied around
in the media—two people. Can I make the point that in any large
hospital, whether it is public or private, anywhere in Australia, on a weekly
basis, there will be issues to be dealt with. Bear in mind that Fiona Stanley
deals with the sickest people in our community, those most severely injured,
and deals with very, very large numbers. It is not designed to have long stays;
there is a continual turnover. I, and I am sure most members, have been to Fiona
Stanley. It is impossible to not be impressed with the quality of service, the
physical arrangement of the building and the care and attention of all support
staff there. As members may know, my family has had some personal involvement—a
family member—with Fiona Stanley, and there is nothing that I or my
wife could criticise about the quality of care and service that is available
there. Things will happen in hospitals. They are complex organisations dealing
with complex situations—often people are distressed, often people are
drug affected and the like. I think we need as a community to praise and
support the men and women who work in that hospital.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : That is what we need to do. There is no doubt the relentless
criticism of a small group in our community, including members opposite, is
damaging the morale of people working in that hospital. I call on the people of
this state who have been patients in Fiona Stanley Hospital, or their family or
friends, to come out and speak about their experiences. It will not be perfect—of
course it will not—but I would say that the vast, vast majority have
had excellent care. The leaking of internal memos and the like, that is not the
Australian way. That is not the way to do it.
Several members interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : It is not the Australian way. But I tell members what is the
Australian way.
Mr
D.A. Templeman : Pull out the first cliche for the year.
The
SPEAKER : I call the first person to order for the year: the member for
Mandurah. Let the Premier finish.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : As to the first point of the question: if medical staff or
other staff, or indeed members of the public, see something wrong, raise it
with the hospital.
Mr
R.H. Cook : They did.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : But raise it in a constructive way. People employed within
our public health system are subject to the standards set by the Public Sector
Commission—they are. But is this government going to go around and
punish people? No, that is not the Australian way either.
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