❓ The Minister for Health updates the WA Parliament on the COVID-19 response, including workforce support, testing, and free flu vaccinations for school-aged children to reduce hospitalisations and protect vulnerable populations.
AnsweredQoN 194Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
HEALTH SYSTEM RESPONSE
194. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Health:
Can the minister update the house
on the response to COVID-19 by Western Australia's health services and
the action that continues to be taken to manage the impacts of this virus?
HEALTH SYSTEM RESPONSE
194. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Health:
Can the minister update the house
on the response to COVID-19 by Western Australia's health services and
the action that continues to be taken to manage the impacts of this virus?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the
question. This is a good opportunity to update the house on a range of
activities that are taking place across the
health system. Just this morning we came from a briefing of all Western Australian
federal members of Parliament, who joined us both in person and online
to be provided with details about what we are doing around the COVID-19
response. All those members of Parliament from both sides of the political
fence appreciated the information that was made available.
One of the things we said to them
is that it is inevitable that we will soon have community-based spread of the
virus. In some respect, we will then be in a position to move towards our
treatment phase of the response as we transition out of the containment and
isolation phase. It will be an important step when our health services start
face-to-face engagement, if you like, with many of the presenting patients. We
are doing a lot of work around ensuring that the workforce is supported so that
it can deal with this issue. Members will have heard me talk about the need to
boost our workforce through work pools. Online today we set up a dedicated call
centre that has been developed for all WA health staff to manage COVID-19
screening and testing in line with the set criteria. If it is required after
the initial screening, those staff will be referred to the COVID clinics. WA
health staff working in other regional areas will be able to access COVID
testing through their local hospitals and health services. This is all part of
an important process to make sure that those people who work on the frontline
have our back.
As we get ready to leave Parliament
this week, I present everyone with some homework. As members go back to their
electorate offices, they should take the opportunity to look up the doctors and
nurses and those people who work in the hospital environment. Members need to
let them know that they support them and thank them for their dedication. They
are going to be in the fight of our lives over the coming months. It is
important that they know that every one of us is behind them in terms of this
fight. It will be a tough one. We know that we have some of the best doctors,
nurses, allied health staff and support workers in the world who can support us
in this fight.
We have also announced that we will
be extending our free influenza jabs for school-age children. Many members will
be aware that Western Australia was the first government in Australia to offer
a free flu vaccine for children from six months to five years of age. It is an
important first step that other states have since followed. Today, we have
announced that we are extending those free flu jabs—try saying that
after a hard day at the office—for all school-age children from five to 11 years of age. This is a really
important step. We know that kids are pretty resilient and, by and
large, will be able to cope with the colds and flus that come each year.
However, we also know that they are the best transmitters of influenza and
therefore it is really important that we target them. Modelling suggests that if we can increase the vaccination
rate of school-aged children to 20 per cent, we will reduce the number of hospitalisations from influenza by 30 per cent across all age groups. That
is because these little mites pass it on to
their parents, grandparents and others in the community. This is an important
next step. We will make sure that we roll
out the influenza program at speed. Many members will remember that last year
we lost 79 Western Australians to the flu virus. This year we have an
even bigger threat, and that is the overlay of COVID-19. We must do even more
to make sure we can suppress the amount of influenza in the community because
it impacts on the elderly and the most vulnerable.
In other news that members may not
be familiar with yet, as a result of a meeting with the Australian Health
Protection Principal Committee today, the commonwealth Deputy Chief Health
Officer has announced restrictions around medication supplies. I provide this
information not because it is our doing but because many members have said that
they are concerned about members of the public buying medications for long
periods, and that certainly has been a concern that the pharmacy industry has expressed
to us. From today, the dispensing of certain drugs will be limited to one month's supply, which members will
appreciate is a perfectly reasonable amount of time, or one unit per
purchase. There will also be controls on over-the-counter medication such as
ventolin and other medications used by people with a lung condition. They will
be placed below the counter—not below the counter; that is for other
stuff! They will now be placed behind the counter and customers will have to
demonstrate, via various forms of documentation from their doctor, that they
require those medications so that we can continue to provide those sorts of
drugs to the people who most need it.
This is a fast-moving situation. We
know there will be changes. That is inevitable. The Prime Minister has made
further announcements today and I know that the Premier will meet with the
national cabinet tomorrow, so we can expect further announcements to come out
of that meeting. I stress to members that we will soon be experiencing the beginnings
of the community-based transmission of the virus. We are ready for it and we
will have measures in place to make sure we can take the Western Australian
community through that next phase.
question. This is a good opportunity to update the house on a range of
activities that are taking place across the
health system. Just this morning we came from a briefing of all Western Australian
federal members of Parliament, who joined us both in person and online
to be provided with details about what we are doing around the COVID-19
response. All those members of Parliament from both sides of the political
fence appreciated the information that was made available.
One of the things we said to them
is that it is inevitable that we will soon have community-based spread of the
virus. In some respect, we will then be in a position to move towards our
treatment phase of the response as we transition out of the containment and
isolation phase. It will be an important step when our health services start
face-to-face engagement, if you like, with many of the presenting patients. We
are doing a lot of work around ensuring that the workforce is supported so that
it can deal with this issue. Members will have heard me talk about the need to
boost our workforce through work pools. Online today we set up a dedicated call
centre that has been developed for all WA health staff to manage COVID-19
screening and testing in line with the set criteria. If it is required after
the initial screening, those staff will be referred to the COVID clinics. WA
health staff working in other regional areas will be able to access COVID
testing through their local hospitals and health services. This is all part of
an important process to make sure that those people who work on the frontline
have our back.
As we get ready to leave Parliament
this week, I present everyone with some homework. As members go back to their
electorate offices, they should take the opportunity to look up the doctors and
nurses and those people who work in the hospital environment. Members need to
let them know that they support them and thank them for their dedication. They
are going to be in the fight of our lives over the coming months. It is
important that they know that every one of us is behind them in terms of this
fight. It will be a tough one. We know that we have some of the best doctors,
nurses, allied health staff and support workers in the world who can support us
in this fight.
We have also announced that we will
be extending our free influenza jabs for school-age children. Many members will
be aware that Western Australia was the first government in Australia to offer
a free flu vaccine for children from six months to five years of age. It is an
important first step that other states have since followed. Today, we have
announced that we are extending those free flu jabs—try saying that
after a hard day at the office—for all school-age children from five to 11 years of age. This is a really
important step. We know that kids are pretty resilient and, by and
large, will be able to cope with the colds and flus that come each year.
However, we also know that they are the best transmitters of influenza and
therefore it is really important that we target them. Modelling suggests that if we can increase the vaccination
rate of school-aged children to 20 per cent, we will reduce the number of hospitalisations from influenza by 30 per cent across all age groups. That
is because these little mites pass it on to
their parents, grandparents and others in the community. This is an important
next step. We will make sure that we roll
out the influenza program at speed. Many members will remember that last year
we lost 79 Western Australians to the flu virus. This year we have an
even bigger threat, and that is the overlay of COVID-19. We must do even more
to make sure we can suppress the amount of influenza in the community because
it impacts on the elderly and the most vulnerable.
In other news that members may not
be familiar with yet, as a result of a meeting with the Australian Health
Protection Principal Committee today, the commonwealth Deputy Chief Health
Officer has announced restrictions around medication supplies. I provide this
information not because it is our doing but because many members have said that
they are concerned about members of the public buying medications for long
periods, and that certainly has been a concern that the pharmacy industry has expressed
to us. From today, the dispensing of certain drugs will be limited to one month's supply, which members will
appreciate is a perfectly reasonable amount of time, or one unit per
purchase. There will also be controls on over-the-counter medication such as
ventolin and other medications used by people with a lung condition. They will
be placed below the counter—not below the counter; that is for other
stuff! They will now be placed behind the counter and customers will have to
demonstrate, via various forms of documentation from their doctor, that they
require those medications so that we can continue to provide those sorts of
drugs to the people who most need it.
This is a fast-moving situation. We
know there will be changes. That is inevitable. The Prime Minister has made
further announcements today and I know that the Premier will meet with the
national cabinet tomorrow, so we can expect further announcements to come out
of that meeting. I stress to members that we will soon be experiencing the beginnings
of the community-based transmission of the virus. We are ready for it and we
will have measures in place to make sure we can take the Western Australian
community through that next phase.
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