❓ Opposition Leader Zempilas questions the Premier about the state of WA hospitals, prompting a heated response defending the government's record and blaming external factors. The Premier acknowledges shortcomings but highlights investment and systemic pressures.
AnsweredQoN 384Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Health—Government performance
384. Mr Basil Zempilas to
the Premier:
Instead of blaming
people in WA for getting old, blaming people who have chosen to make WA their
home and blaming his mates in Canberra for record ambulance ramping, thousands
of maintenance issues in hospitals and elective surgery cancellations due to
our hospitals being full, will the Premier now apologise to Western Australians
for the diabolical state of our hospitals?
384. Mr Basil Zempilas to
the Premier:
Instead of blaming
people in WA for getting old, blaming people who have chosen to make WA their
home and blaming his mates in Canberra for record ambulance ramping, thousands
of maintenance issues in hospitals and elective surgery cancellations due to
our hospitals being full, will the Premier now apologise to Western Australians
for the diabolical state of our hospitals?
AnswerView source ↗
I thought the member
for Central Wheatbelt had reached the depths of parliamentary behaviour today
but the Leader of the Opposition just went one better. What a pathetic
question. He was trying to verbal and suggest that somehow the government is
against older people. That is just pathetic. It is absolutely pathetic. Quite
frankly, this is the standard of debate that we have now learnt to expect from
those opposite. Quite frankly, I think the people of Western Australia deserve
better from their opposition.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition, you asked the
question. The Premier can respond.
Mr Roger Cook: This morning I was clear. We apologise
for any inconvenience for anyone in our health system who believes that it has
not met their expectations. In relation to elective surgery rescheduling, that
has been part and parcel of what the health system has done for decades.
As the Minister for
Health pointed out, in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016 governments of all persuasions
used elective surgery rescheduling to make sure we maximised the use of beds in
the hospital. If staff anticipate that they will have a certain number of beds
available and that is not the case because they have seen an uptick in relation
to emergency department presentations, they clearly have to make way for those
patients who are coming in with more urgent needs. That is the system that has
been utilised throughout this state and throughout the country for many
decades.
The fact remains that on Monday, we had over a
thousand 000 calls for ambulance call-outs. We had a record number of priority
one calls. Western Australia is in the grip of a very difficult winter flu
season. It is a matter of fact that just yesterday over 300 patients were
available to be discharged if there was an aged-care bed for them to go to.
That is just a fact.
Premier Barnett
defended the practice of rescheduling elective surgery on a number of
occasions. He said that they were not life-threatening conditions. The Minister
for Health at the time said that he would be "happy" to have his
elective surgery cancelled if someone needed his bed to save their life. The
point I am making is that this particular experience for the health department
and for our hospitals today is nothing new.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the Opposition.
Mr Roger Cook: This is nothing new, Mr Speaker, and
we know that the hospital system is impacted by a growing population, an ageing
population and a very difficult winter flu season. The system is working as
hard as it can, and I want to thank the doctors and nurses who are there day
in, day out delivering great health care to the people of Western Australia. Australia
has one of the most outstanding health systems in the world. Western
Australia's is amongst the best in this country, but we know that it is under
pressure for all those reasons that I talked about.
What do people want?
They want a government that invests in health care. We have grown the number of
beds by 900 since 2021. We have added 5,000 more nurses and over 1,400 doctors
since 2021. We have created a $3.2 billion investment pathway for more growth in
our healthcare system and the very best and fast emergency department services
in the country. We are setting new records in elective surgery output. Our
doctors and nurses are working tirelessly to make sure that we continue to
deliver a healthcare system that we are all very proud of. It is a big, complex
system, so it does not always work well.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition.
Mr Roger Cook: Mr Speaker, we know that the Leader of
the Opposition prefers the sound of his own voice to anyone else's, but he
should just listen to the answers for a change.
We know that we do
not always get it right. No system is perfect, but people have seen more
investment than ever before from our government. They have seen an increase in
beds and in doctors and nurses, and more activity.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition!
Mr Roger Cook: We have seen more activity than ever
before.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition!
Mr Roger Cook: We will continue to make sure that we
provide those investments to ensure that our ageing health infrastructure gets
the maintenance work that it needs and to make sure that we continue to build
new hospitals and rebuild our hospitals right throughout this great state,
including the Bunbury Regional Hospital, the single biggest regional hospital
project in this state's history. There is no government that will back health
care in WA like a WA Labor government.
for Central Wheatbelt had reached the depths of parliamentary behaviour today
but the Leader of the Opposition just went one better. What a pathetic
question. He was trying to verbal and suggest that somehow the government is
against older people. That is just pathetic. It is absolutely pathetic. Quite
frankly, this is the standard of debate that we have now learnt to expect from
those opposite. Quite frankly, I think the people of Western Australia deserve
better from their opposition.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition, you asked the
question. The Premier can respond.
Mr Roger Cook: This morning I was clear. We apologise
for any inconvenience for anyone in our health system who believes that it has
not met their expectations. In relation to elective surgery rescheduling, that
has been part and parcel of what the health system has done for decades.
As the Minister for
Health pointed out, in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016 governments of all persuasions
used elective surgery rescheduling to make sure we maximised the use of beds in
the hospital. If staff anticipate that they will have a certain number of beds
available and that is not the case because they have seen an uptick in relation
to emergency department presentations, they clearly have to make way for those
patients who are coming in with more urgent needs. That is the system that has
been utilised throughout this state and throughout the country for many
decades.
The fact remains that on Monday, we had over a
thousand 000 calls for ambulance call-outs. We had a record number of priority
one calls. Western Australia is in the grip of a very difficult winter flu
season. It is a matter of fact that just yesterday over 300 patients were
available to be discharged if there was an aged-care bed for them to go to.
That is just a fact.
Premier Barnett
defended the practice of rescheduling elective surgery on a number of
occasions. He said that they were not life-threatening conditions. The Minister
for Health at the time said that he would be "happy" to have his
elective surgery cancelled if someone needed his bed to save their life. The
point I am making is that this particular experience for the health department
and for our hospitals today is nothing new.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the Opposition.
Mr Roger Cook: This is nothing new, Mr Speaker, and
we know that the hospital system is impacted by a growing population, an ageing
population and a very difficult winter flu season. The system is working as
hard as it can, and I want to thank the doctors and nurses who are there day
in, day out delivering great health care to the people of Western Australia. Australia
has one of the most outstanding health systems in the world. Western
Australia's is amongst the best in this country, but we know that it is under
pressure for all those reasons that I talked about.
What do people want?
They want a government that invests in health care. We have grown the number of
beds by 900 since 2021. We have added 5,000 more nurses and over 1,400 doctors
since 2021. We have created a $3.2 billion investment pathway for more growth in
our healthcare system and the very best and fast emergency department services
in the country. We are setting new records in elective surgery output. Our
doctors and nurses are working tirelessly to make sure that we continue to
deliver a healthcare system that we are all very proud of. It is a big, complex
system, so it does not always work well.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition.
Mr Roger Cook: Mr Speaker, we know that the Leader of
the Opposition prefers the sound of his own voice to anyone else's, but he
should just listen to the answers for a change.
We know that we do
not always get it right. No system is perfect, but people have seen more
investment than ever before from our government. They have seen an increase in
beds and in doctors and nurses, and more activity.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition!
Mr Roger Cook: We have seen more activity than ever
before.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition!
Mr Roger Cook: We will continue to make sure that we
provide those investments to ensure that our ageing health infrastructure gets
the maintenance work that it needs and to make sure that we continue to build
new hospitals and rebuild our hospitals right throughout this great state,
including the Bunbury Regional Hospital, the single biggest regional hospital
project in this state's history. There is no government that will back health
care in WA like a WA Labor government.
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