❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Minister for Health regarding the operational status and funding of the neonatal unit at Osborne Park Hospital, alleging conflicting explanations for its underutilisation. The Minister denies funding issues and clarifies the unit's current use and future expansion plans.
AnsweredQoN 274Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
OSBORNE PARK HOSPITAL — NEONATAL UNIT
274. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to reports that the $25
million neonatal unit at Osborne Park Hospital has sat idle for three years
since it opened in 2020.
(1) In response
to questions about why it had not been operating to its full capacity, the
minister and her office claimed it was a shell
ward, then the ward's purpose was to futureproof the site for
population growth and then the reality was that the ward had been very
difficult to staff. Which is it?
(2) Or is it
that, according to the Australian Medical Association (WA) president, the
minister had failed to set aside an operational budget for the ward?
The SPEAKER : I will just say
that there was quite a lot of argument in that question. I think it would be
clearer if you could make your questions more direct.
274. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to reports that the $25
million neonatal unit at Osborne Park Hospital has sat idle for three years
since it opened in 2020.
(1) In response
to questions about why it had not been operating to its full capacity, the
minister and her office claimed it was a shell
ward, then the ward's purpose was to futureproof the site for
population growth and then the reality was that the ward had been very
difficult to staff. Which is it?
(2) Or is it
that, according to the Australian Medical Association (WA) president, the
minister had failed to set aside an operational budget for the ward?
The SPEAKER : I will just say
that there was quite a lot of argument in that question. I think it would be
clearer if you could make your questions more direct.
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) To
the very last point, it is absolutely, categorically untrue that the government
had not provided funding for the ward or for the operational funding. That is
categorically not true. Osborne Park Hospital is run and managed by the North
Metropolitan Health Service. The government provided the funding to expand the ward to futureproof and potentially expand
neonatal facilities at Osborne Park Hospital in the future. It is an operational decision of North Metropolitan
Health Service as to when and how it does that. The purpose of the devolved health system is that those
decisions are made locally and they make the best determination for the
circumstances that they have. It is absolutely not a matter of not being
provided the funding.
North Metropolitan Health Service
fitted out the ward to prepare for COVID. That is why we saw it fitted out more
than a shell ward of any kind. North Metropolitan Health Service had not
requested further operational funding for that ward to expand what it is
currently used for. It is used now. Any suggestion that it is not used and it sits empty is completely wrong. It is used
now. A number of babies go through that ward. If they are born and they
are a bit dusty and they need a little bit more intensive care, that can be done in either the neonatal ward onsite or they go
there for that care and are then transferred out. It absolutely does get
used now.
In the future, we intend to expand
that. When we are able to expand the maternity services, which is one of the
key decisions that we made with the relocation of the women's and
newborns' hospital, that will also
result in significant expansion of neonatal services and therefore expand the
number of high-risk women who come to that hospital who are able to
birth and therefore birth closer to home.
the very last point, it is absolutely, categorically untrue that the government
had not provided funding for the ward or for the operational funding. That is
categorically not true. Osborne Park Hospital is run and managed by the North
Metropolitan Health Service. The government provided the funding to expand the ward to futureproof and potentially expand
neonatal facilities at Osborne Park Hospital in the future. It is an operational decision of North Metropolitan
Health Service as to when and how it does that. The purpose of the devolved health system is that those
decisions are made locally and they make the best determination for the
circumstances that they have. It is absolutely not a matter of not being
provided the funding.
North Metropolitan Health Service
fitted out the ward to prepare for COVID. That is why we saw it fitted out more
than a shell ward of any kind. North Metropolitan Health Service had not
requested further operational funding for that ward to expand what it is
currently used for. It is used now. Any suggestion that it is not used and it sits empty is completely wrong. It is used
now. A number of babies go through that ward. If they are born and they
are a bit dusty and they need a little bit more intensive care, that can be done in either the neonatal ward onsite or they go
there for that care and are then transferred out. It absolutely does get
used now.
In the future, we intend to expand
that. When we are able to expand the maternity services, which is one of the
key decisions that we made with the relocation of the women's and
newborns' hospital, that will also
result in significant expansion of neonatal services and therefore expand the
number of high-risk women who come to that hospital who are able to
birth and therefore birth closer to home.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.