❓ A parliamentary question regarding discrepancies in reported hospital bypass requests is addressed by the Minister for Health, who clarifies the circumstances and highlights improvements in emergency department performance and resources.
AnsweredQoN 476Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I ask a supplementary question. How does the minister explain the discrepancy between his admission today that three hospital requests for bypass were rejected when he told Parliament yesterday that 11 requests have been made since 8 July and that every one of those 11 requests for bypass from a hospital was approved? Hospital bypass requests have been rejected. Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
The member should have listened to the answer that was just given. On three occasions discussions were held between doctors and senior medical staff at Royal Perth Hospital, which resulted in no requests being made by the hospital to the state health emergency director for ambulance bypass. I will be specific. When the chief executive officer of Royal Perth Hospital, Dr Jon Mulligan, was approached by emergency department staff, he went to the emergency department, discussed the matter with the staff, and it was agreed that no request be made for diversion. That happened on three occasions. On the other occasions - Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan: Agreed to by the emergency department, was it minister? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member should listen to what I am saying. The matters were discussed between Dr Jon Mulligan and the emergency department people internal to Royal Perth Hospital. On three occasions it was agreed that no application would be made to put the hospital on diversion. On the other nine occasions at Royal Perth Hospital, a request was made to the state health emergency director, Dr Shane Kelly, for diversion, and it was approved. Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: The member should have listened to the answer that was just given. On three occasions discussions were held between doctors and senior medical staff at Royal Perth Hospital, which resulted in no requests being made by the hospital to the state health emergency director for ambulance bypass. I will be specific. When the chief executive officer of Royal Perth Hospital, Dr Jon Mulligan, was approached by emergency department staff, he went to the emergency department, discussed the matter with the staff, and it was agreed that no request be made for diversion. That happened on three occasions. On the other occasions - Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan: Agreed to by the emergency department, was it minister? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member should listen to what I am saying. The matters were discussed between Dr Jon Mulligan and the emergency department people internal to Royal Perth Hospital. On three occasions it was agreed that no application would be made to put the hospital on diversion. On the other nine occasions at Royal Perth Hospital, a request was made to the state health emergency director, Dr Shane Kelly, for diversion, and it was approved. Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
The member should have listened to the answer that was just given. On three occasions discussions were held between doctors and senior medical staff at Royal Perth Hospital, which resulted in no requests being made by the hospital to the state health emergency director for ambulance bypass. I will be specific. When the chief executive officer of Royal Perth Hospital, Dr Jon Mulligan, was approached by emergency department staff, he went to the emergency department, discussed the matter with the staff, and it was agreed that no request be made for diversion. That happened on three occasions. On the other occasions - Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan: Agreed to by the emergency department, was it minister? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member should listen to what I am saying. The matters were discussed between Dr Jon Mulligan and the emergency department people internal to Royal Perth Hospital. On three occasions it was agreed that no application would be made to put the hospital on diversion. On the other nine occasions at Royal Perth Hospital, a request was made to the state health emergency director, Dr Shane Kelly, for diversion, and it was approved. Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan: Agreed to by the emergency department, was it minister? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member should listen to what I am saying. The matters were discussed between Dr Jon Mulligan and the emergency department people internal to Royal Perth Hospital. On three occasions it was agreed that no application would be made to put the hospital on diversion. On the other nine occasions at Royal Perth Hospital, a request was made to the state health emergency director, Dr Shane Kelly, for diversion, and it was approved. Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member should listen to what I am saying. The matters were discussed between Dr Jon Mulligan and the emergency department people internal to Royal Perth Hospital. On three occasions it was agreed that no application would be made to put the hospital on diversion. On the other nine occasions at Royal Perth Hospital, a request was made to the state health emergency director, Dr Shane Kelly, for diversion, and it was approved. Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: The member should have listened to the answer that was just given. On three occasions discussions were held between doctors and senior medical staff at Royal Perth Hospital, which resulted in no requests being made by the hospital to the state health emergency director for ambulance bypass. I will be specific. When the chief executive officer of Royal Perth Hospital, Dr Jon Mulligan, was approached by emergency department staff, he went to the emergency department, discussed the matter with the staff, and it was agreed that no request be made for diversion. That happened on three occasions. On the other occasions - Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan: Agreed to by the emergency department, was it minister? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member should listen to what I am saying. The matters were discussed between Dr Jon Mulligan and the emergency department people internal to Royal Perth Hospital. On three occasions it was agreed that no application would be made to put the hospital on diversion. On the other nine occasions at Royal Perth Hospital, a request was made to the state health emergency director, Dr Shane Kelly, for diversion, and it was approved. Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
The member should have listened to the answer that was just given. On three occasions discussions were held between doctors and senior medical staff at Royal Perth Hospital, which resulted in no requests being made by the hospital to the state health emergency director for ambulance bypass. I will be specific. When the chief executive officer of Royal Perth Hospital, Dr Jon Mulligan, was approached by emergency department staff, he went to the emergency department, discussed the matter with the staff, and it was agreed that no request be made for diversion. That happened on three occasions. On the other occasions - Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan: Agreed to by the emergency department, was it minister? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member should listen to what I am saying. The matters were discussed between Dr Jon Mulligan and the emergency department people internal to Royal Perth Hospital. On three occasions it was agreed that no application would be made to put the hospital on diversion. On the other nine occasions at Royal Perth Hospital, a request was made to the state health emergency director, Dr Shane Kelly, for diversion, and it was approved. Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan: Agreed to by the emergency department, was it minister? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member should listen to what I am saying. The matters were discussed between Dr Jon Mulligan and the emergency department people internal to Royal Perth Hospital. On three occasions it was agreed that no application would be made to put the hospital on diversion. On the other nine occasions at Royal Perth Hospital, a request was made to the state health emergency director, Dr Shane Kelly, for diversion, and it was approved. Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The member should listen to what I am saying. The matters were discussed between Dr Jon Mulligan and the emergency department people internal to Royal Perth Hospital. On three occasions it was agreed that no application would be made to put the hospital on diversion. On the other nine occasions at Royal Perth Hospital, a request was made to the state health emergency director, Dr Shane Kelly, for diversion, and it was approved. Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Several opposition members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Opposition hates it when the Government is having success. It would love to see more diversions and more ambulances being turned away. It loves failure. It is upset because this winter our emergency departments have coped superbly. The doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our hospitals have turned around the completely unacceptable situation of the past few winters. I repeat once more for the benefit of members opposite: last winter - May, June, July and August - emergency departments in the metropolitan area experienced a triple bypass on 50 occasions. This winter there have been three. That is a dramatic turnaround in form. I also inform members how well Western Australian emergency departments are doing compared with those in the other States. I read an article - I think it was yesterday - in a Sydney newspaper which stated that Sydney hospitals have been on code red for two-thirds of this winter. That is a phenomenal amount of time to be in a state of chaos. The Opposition is resentful of the fact that we have put in place a number of initiatives. There are 1 100 more full-time salaried nurses working in our hospitals than there were when we came to government in 2001. More than 1 100 full-time salaried nurses are taking the pressure off our emergency departments and other hospital areas. That is giving us the capacity to move on and record the lowest number of people waiting for elective surgery since records have been kept in this State. We also have a new contract with St John Ambulance. Thirty-four million dollars is being spent to improve ambulance response times. That will involve extra ambulances and 100 extra ambulance officers delivering services to the public of Western Australia. We have also spent $22 million upgrading emergency departments to provide our doctors and nurses working on the frontline with the capacity to deal with the tremendous pressure they work under. We have also spent $20 million to open 332 extra beds this winter for the simple reason that the doctors and nurses working on the frontline told me that the provision of extra beds would help them overcome access blocks and enable them to get on with their jobs. They said they needed 200 more beds than last year. They were given 130-odd last year. We have given them what they said they needed to do their jobs properly. Doctors and nurses in our emergency departments have continually told me that they have the capacity to do more work provided there are no bottlenecks in the system, such as treating emergency patients and having nowhere to move them. I have moved around the emergency departments to the extent that I know a significant number of staff on first-name terms. I have listened when they have told me what is necessary and then gone to Government to make sure that we have the money to make our emergency departments work well. One day I spent hours travelling around in the back of an ambulance so that I properly understood what happens in our ambulances and in their interaction with the emergency departments. I talked to people as the ambulances went around the hospitals. The Government put together a strategy, which I tabled in this Parliament in March or April this year, so that everyone knew exactly what we would be doing this winter and what we expected to achieve. What we have achieved is the capacity for our emergency departments to treat patients when they arrive and to treat ambulance patients when they arrive in a way that this State has not seen for years, and in a way that is light years ahead of the emergency departments in other States. We get carping, whingeing and negativity from the Opposition because it hates the fact that we are succeeding in turning around this important area of health care.
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