❓ Mr. Cook questions the Minister for Health about budget constraints at Princess Margaret Hospital, specifically regarding bed closures and staffing reductions. The Minister denies knowledge of such measures and defends the hospital's management.
AnsweredQoN 430Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PRINCESS
MARGARET HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN — BUDGET CONSTRAINTS
430. Mr R.H. COOK to the
Minister for Health:
I refer to budget constraints at Princess Margaret Hospital
for Children.
(1) Have any
beds been closed due to end of year budget constraints at Princess Margaret
Hospital for Children?
(2) If so, how
many beds and in which wards?
(3) What
measures have been put in place to reduce the number of nurses on shift this
month in an attempt to cut costs and come in on budget?
(4) Is the
minister satisfied that any such measures will not affect the health outcomes
for sick or injured children?
MARGARET HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN — BUDGET CONSTRAINTS
430. Mr R.H. COOK to the
Minister for Health:
I refer to budget constraints at Princess Margaret Hospital
for Children.
(1) Have any
beds been closed due to end of year budget constraints at Princess Margaret
Hospital for Children?
(2) If so, how
many beds and in which wards?
(3) What
measures have been put in place to reduce the number of nurses on shift this
month in an attempt to cut costs and come in on budget?
(4) Is the
minister satisfied that any such measures will not affect the health outcomes
for sick or injured children?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(4)
I have not been given any advice that Princess Margaret is doing anything other
than come in on budget. In fact, the last time we discussed this was a month
ago, during the budget process, and it was doing particularly well. If
something has happened since then—clearly the member has been told
something by someone about some constraints—I am not aware of it. I am
reluctant to take at face value anything the member says because I have found
he has said things in the past that have been somewhat less than accurate. At the end of the day that hospital has been
managed very well. It has managed the four-hour rule exceptionally well,
achieving 94 or 95 per cent compliance all the time, and it has managed its
staffing well. However, at the end of the year, it has to make sure that it
operates within the constraints of its budget, as does anybody, and that may
include making some minor adjustments.
Mr R.H. Cook : Does that include closing beds?
Dr K.D. HAMES : I do not know that the hospital needs to
close beds.
Mr R.H. Cook : Lots of the time, the beds deliberately do
not open.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The beds are not full all the time. Often
they are only 70 per cent to 80 per cent full, so on lots of occasions their
beds are not filled. If the hospital does not have a patient requiring a bed,
it does not need staff. Any hospital adjusts its staff according to the number
of patients admitted. Hospitals are paid through activity-based funding, and
they manage that very well. That is possible because some staff are on contract
or are casual. Obviously, people who are permanent are entitled to full pay for
their job. A hospital has to manage its budget. Hospitals are no different from
anybody else. The senior executives are doing all those things, and I only have
the word of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that they are not managing
well.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : You should find out.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I will ask the senior executives. At the
end of the day it is their business and their job. They need to manage the
hospital properly. They would not reduce the number of staff on beds if it in
any way affected patients coming into that hospital and getting proper
treatment. Does the Deputy Leader of the Opposition think they will go down to
the emergency department and say to someone who needs a bed, ''Sorry,
you can't come into this bed because we've closed that bed''?
What a load of rubbish! They do not do that. If someone needs a bed, they get a
bed. That is how hospitals work. Hospitals do not need to waste money when they
do not have the demand.
I have not been given any advice that Princess Margaret is doing anything other
than come in on budget. In fact, the last time we discussed this was a month
ago, during the budget process, and it was doing particularly well. If
something has happened since then—clearly the member has been told
something by someone about some constraints—I am not aware of it. I am
reluctant to take at face value anything the member says because I have found
he has said things in the past that have been somewhat less than accurate. At the end of the day that hospital has been
managed very well. It has managed the four-hour rule exceptionally well,
achieving 94 or 95 per cent compliance all the time, and it has managed its
staffing well. However, at the end of the year, it has to make sure that it
operates within the constraints of its budget, as does anybody, and that may
include making some minor adjustments.
Mr R.H. Cook : Does that include closing beds?
Dr K.D. HAMES : I do not know that the hospital needs to
close beds.
Mr R.H. Cook : Lots of the time, the beds deliberately do
not open.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The beds are not full all the time. Often
they are only 70 per cent to 80 per cent full, so on lots of occasions their
beds are not filled. If the hospital does not have a patient requiring a bed,
it does not need staff. Any hospital adjusts its staff according to the number
of patients admitted. Hospitals are paid through activity-based funding, and
they manage that very well. That is possible because some staff are on contract
or are casual. Obviously, people who are permanent are entitled to full pay for
their job. A hospital has to manage its budget. Hospitals are no different from
anybody else. The senior executives are doing all those things, and I only have
the word of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that they are not managing
well.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : You should find out.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I will ask the senior executives. At the
end of the day it is their business and their job. They need to manage the
hospital properly. They would not reduce the number of staff on beds if it in
any way affected patients coming into that hospital and getting proper
treatment. Does the Deputy Leader of the Opposition think they will go down to
the emergency department and say to someone who needs a bed, ''Sorry,
you can't come into this bed because we've closed that bed''?
What a load of rubbish! They do not do that. If someone needs a bed, they get a
bed. That is how hospitals work. Hospitals do not need to waste money when they
do not have the demand.
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