Ms. Mettam questions the Minister for Health about hospital maternity bypasses under the Labor government. The Minister responds by highlighting investment in a new women's and babies' hospital and attributing pressures to broader systemic issues.

AnsweredQoN 522Legislative Assembly
Asked
14 September 2021
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

HOSPITALS — MATERNITY BYPASSES
522. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question.
Are hospital or maternity bypasses the new and accepted standard of care for
birthing mothers under the Labor government's public health system?

AnswerView source ↗

Perhaps we should build a new women's
and babies' hospital! Hang on; we have already committed to doing that, with $1.8 billion. I know the member for
Vasse has a narrative that she is wishing to prosecute, but she simply has to be able to point to inadequacies in investment and look at potential examples
of the government not doing its best to
recruit and expand the services. The fact of the matter is that we are doing
everything that is humanly possible to make sure that the health system
continues to respond to some of the most unprecedented demand because of the global pandemic, the impact of deferred care, the
situation with mental health issues and the situation with long-stay patients associated with failures in the National Disability Insurance Scheme
and the aged-care system. These are not pressures that we can respond to
overnight, but they are pressures that we are responding to, and that is being
done through the expansion of beds, the increase in recruitment and the
strategic investment in new hospitals and new hospital systems to make sure
that we can continue to put patients first.

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