❓ The question concerns the Cook Labor government's commitment to supporting WA's medical workforce. The Minister outlines initiatives to improve conditions and increase workforce numbers, highlighting a recent agreement with the AMA.
AnsweredQoN 584Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HEALTH —
WORKFORCE
584. Ms M.J. HAMMAT to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's commitment to supporting Western Australia's
medical workforce.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this government is working closely with
health workers to deliver meaningful reforms to ensure that we have a sustainable
and secure workforce?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether she is aware of any alternative approaches to
working with health workers?
WORKFORCE
584. Ms M.J. HAMMAT to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's commitment to supporting Western Australia's
medical workforce.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this government is working closely with
health workers to deliver meaningful reforms to ensure that we have a sustainable
and secure workforce?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether she is aware of any alternative approaches to
working with health workers?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for Mirrabooka for that question. It is an excellent segue
from the previous question about the Western Australian healthcare workforce.
Hospitals, beds, equipment, technology and infrastructure
are critical to delivering health care, but the most important thing about our
healthcare system is our workforce. There is no question. The most
important part of any health system is its workforce. Western Australia has an excellent, highly trained, highly regarded and
high-standard healthcare workforce in the care and support that it
delivers to its community, and it is this government that backs it in. It is
this government that supports the workforce. I am very, very pleased to inform
the house that since coming to government, we have grown the healthcare
workforce by 4 400 nurses and 1 600 doctors. Since 2017, that is a 30 per cent
increase. We are listening, and we are working with them because things are
always changing in health care, and it is important that we do that.
We recently saw a ballot of
Australian Medical Association members, and 86 per cent of the medical
workforce in the public health system voted to accept the government's
enterprise bargaining agreement offer. It was a historic agreement. It is a really
important agreement that will put what is normally known as junior doctors, or
known more formally as doctors in training, at the front and centre of our
healthcare system. It builds on the previous agreement that introduced
permanency for doctors working in the public health
system. This agreement offers them 4.75 per cent in year one, 3.75 per in year
two, and three per cent in the third year of the agreement. There are
some really major reforms and huge benefits for our doctors in training and
junior doctor workforce. For those people who are not in health and speak
health, they are the doctors who essentially manage almost all the episodes of
care in a hospital. They manage the initial assessment.
They manage the episode of care, and they manage the discharge. Of course, they
are overseen and supported by consultants, but it is the DITs that do
the work in our hospitals.
We have also acknowledged that their
maximum shift lengths have been reduced from 14 hours and they accrue overtime
after 10 hours. Previously, overtime was only accrued after a number of hours
worked over a week. Now it will be accrued after 10 hours on every one of those
shifts. There will be a minimum 10-hour break between shifts. There will be 24
to 48 hours off after night shifts and no night shifts before planned leave.
There will be an annual $4 000 DIT support payment. Professional development
allowance will be paid during paid parental leave. For more and more women who
are coming into medicine, being able to train in a specialty while they are
having children is really important, and that is generally the demographic and
the age range of people in training.
We are removing restrictions on
professional development leave and recognising that GPs are specialists. We
know that there is a crisis in primary care. We are saying, ''We value
you. You're specialised, and we're
going to acknowledge you as such in our agreement. You will have the same and
similar entitlements as those other specialties.'' There will be
payment of public holiday penalties for hours worked on public holidays, access
to pro-rata long service leave after seven years, increased superannuation on
unpaid parental leave and a commitment to review on-call and recall provisions.
We have also agreed to a review of junior doctor workflow and the aim to reduce
the administrative burden to make their life easier so they can see more
patients.
I
am also pleased to inform the chamber that we have also reached an agreement
with the 5 000 public health support workers who keep our hospitals moving by
moving patients around, supporting them with personal care, feeding them—it
very important that people get fed—and making sure that they move to
the right place in the hospital to continue that episode of care. They will see
a wage increase of $65 per week over three years
and a maximisation of permanent hours. Those who do not have permanent
full-time hours will get the first opportunity to do the hours that need to be
backfilled and that will increase their weekly wage. We have provided a regional
incentive payment to address cost-of-living pressures in the great southern,
wheatbelt and south west, which is new. We have made a commitment to improve
the mental health and wellbeing of many of our health support workers and
improve rosters. We still do not know the opposition's plan for the
healthcare workforce, which is the biggest public sector workforce. We hear a lot
of criticism.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Three ministers here, and this question has already taken five minutes. I do
not think we need to start a whole new conversation and have a lot of
interjections.
Ms
A. SANDERSON : I apologise for the
length of the response but it is important that the chamber and the Leader of
the Liberal Party understand the work that we are doing, given the previous
question also. We also do not know the position of the Nationals WA and the
Liberal Party on the wages policy, on ratios and on permanency for doctors and
what they will do to deliver those ratios. We know that seven years ago, under
the Liberal and National Parties, we started with a deficit of 500 beds in our
health system, a decrease of nearly 1 000 staff during their time, and no
investment and no solutions.
thank the member for Mirrabooka for that question. It is an excellent segue
from the previous question about the Western Australian healthcare workforce.
Hospitals, beds, equipment, technology and infrastructure
are critical to delivering health care, but the most important thing about our
healthcare system is our workforce. There is no question. The most
important part of any health system is its workforce. Western Australia has an excellent, highly trained, highly regarded and
high-standard healthcare workforce in the care and support that it
delivers to its community, and it is this government that backs it in. It is
this government that supports the workforce. I am very, very pleased to inform
the house that since coming to government, we have grown the healthcare
workforce by 4 400 nurses and 1 600 doctors. Since 2017, that is a 30 per cent
increase. We are listening, and we are working with them because things are
always changing in health care, and it is important that we do that.
We recently saw a ballot of
Australian Medical Association members, and 86 per cent of the medical
workforce in the public health system voted to accept the government's
enterprise bargaining agreement offer. It was a historic agreement. It is a really
important agreement that will put what is normally known as junior doctors, or
known more formally as doctors in training, at the front and centre of our
healthcare system. It builds on the previous agreement that introduced
permanency for doctors working in the public health
system. This agreement offers them 4.75 per cent in year one, 3.75 per in year
two, and three per cent in the third year of the agreement. There are
some really major reforms and huge benefits for our doctors in training and
junior doctor workforce. For those people who are not in health and speak
health, they are the doctors who essentially manage almost all the episodes of
care in a hospital. They manage the initial assessment.
They manage the episode of care, and they manage the discharge. Of course, they
are overseen and supported by consultants, but it is the DITs that do
the work in our hospitals.
We have also acknowledged that their
maximum shift lengths have been reduced from 14 hours and they accrue overtime
after 10 hours. Previously, overtime was only accrued after a number of hours
worked over a week. Now it will be accrued after 10 hours on every one of those
shifts. There will be a minimum 10-hour break between shifts. There will be 24
to 48 hours off after night shifts and no night shifts before planned leave.
There will be an annual $4 000 DIT support payment. Professional development
allowance will be paid during paid parental leave. For more and more women who
are coming into medicine, being able to train in a specialty while they are
having children is really important, and that is generally the demographic and
the age range of people in training.
We are removing restrictions on
professional development leave and recognising that GPs are specialists. We
know that there is a crisis in primary care. We are saying, ''We value
you. You're specialised, and we're
going to acknowledge you as such in our agreement. You will have the same and
similar entitlements as those other specialties.'' There will be
payment of public holiday penalties for hours worked on public holidays, access
to pro-rata long service leave after seven years, increased superannuation on
unpaid parental leave and a commitment to review on-call and recall provisions.
We have also agreed to a review of junior doctor workflow and the aim to reduce
the administrative burden to make their life easier so they can see more
patients.
I
am also pleased to inform the chamber that we have also reached an agreement
with the 5 000 public health support workers who keep our hospitals moving by
moving patients around, supporting them with personal care, feeding them—it
very important that people get fed—and making sure that they move to
the right place in the hospital to continue that episode of care. They will see
a wage increase of $65 per week over three years
and a maximisation of permanent hours. Those who do not have permanent
full-time hours will get the first opportunity to do the hours that need to be
backfilled and that will increase their weekly wage. We have provided a regional
incentive payment to address cost-of-living pressures in the great southern,
wheatbelt and south west, which is new. We have made a commitment to improve
the mental health and wellbeing of many of our health support workers and
improve rosters. We still do not know the opposition's plan for the
healthcare workforce, which is the biggest public sector workforce. We hear a lot
of criticism.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Three ministers here, and this question has already taken five minutes. I do
not think we need to start a whole new conversation and have a lot of
interjections.
Ms
A. SANDERSON : I apologise for the
length of the response but it is important that the chamber and the Leader of
the Liberal Party understand the work that we are doing, given the previous
question also. We also do not know the position of the Nationals WA and the
Liberal Party on the wages policy, on ratios and on permanency for doctors and
what they will do to deliver those ratios. We know that seven years ago, under
the Liberal and National Parties, we started with a deficit of 500 beds in our
health system, a decrease of nearly 1 000 staff during their time, and no
investment and no solutions.
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