Mr Cook questions the Minister for Health about ambulance ramping and a perceived crisis in Perth emergency departments. The Minister denies a crisis, attributing pressure to population growth and system improvements.

AnsweredQoN 825Legislative Assembly
Asked
19 October 2016
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

AMBULANCE RAMPING — EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS
825. Mr R.H. COOK to the Minister for
Health:
I have a supplementary question. The
minister's ramping ban has failed dismally. What is his new plan to
resolve the crisis in Perth EDs?

AnswerView source ↗

I do know that more treatment is
being provided in our public hospitals in Western Australia than ever before
and more treatment is being provided in emergency departments than has ever
been the case. There is no crisis in our emergency departments.
Mr
R.H. Cook interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Kwinana, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : The one thing that the Labor Party is very good at —
Mr
R.H. Cook interjected.
The
SPEAKER : I call you to order for the second time.
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : One thing the Labor Party is very good at is scaremongering. We
are seeing it going on at the moment; we saw it in the federal election
campaign and we see it from the member for Kwinana at the moment. There is a lot
of demand on our emergency departments—there is no question about that—and
there is pressure on the clinical staff who work in them.
Mr
R.H. Cook interjected.
The SPEAKER : That is enough.
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : They are very dedicated and do an outstanding job, with
world-class standards of quality of care; there is no question about that. They
are amazingly dedicated, committed and competent, and I pay tribute to them.
They are working very hard, but there is no crisis in our emergency
departments. There is major pressure—there is no question about that—because
of the growing population, the ageing population and the fact that we have made
our public hospital system better than has ever been the case. The better we
make it, just like our public schools, the more people want to use it, and that
is what is happening.

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