❓ Hon Anthony Fels questions the availability of age breakdown data for registered nurses, despite renewals being tied to birth dates. The response details system limitations and planned improvements for data reporting.
AnsweredQoN 4173Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
With reference to question on notice number 3676, requesting an age breakdown of nurses currently registered with the Nurses Board of Western Australia, given renewals are due on a nurses birth date, please explain why data is not available?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
17 October 2006
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Health
Response time
33 days
As mentioned in the Minister for Health's response to question number 3676, the age breakdown of nurses currently registered with the Nurses Board is available but will take time to prepare. The Board has not previously provided this information in its annual report, however, will include from this year onward. The Nurses Board of Western Australia purchased a new nurses registration information system in 2001 (NBIS) at the same time it moved to a three year renewal of registration option and renewal date on the registrant's birth month. The system does not generate an automatic report on registrant age. Each month, the system will generate a report which details the register including registrant name, date of birth, ID number, expiry date of registration, category of registration, etc. This report, for one month, takes one hour to run and is generally run overnight as it slows down the system for registration staff using it during the day. The information is then transferred to an Excel spreadsheet where the data can be manipulated. To calculate the age of the registrants based on their date of birth, a formula is used which takes into account days of the year and today's date. A further analysis on age brackets, and how many registrants fall into these age brackets, is required. This exercise was undertaken in January 2005 and repeated for September 2006, copies of which are attached [tabled paper _____]. For each time period (e.g. every year from 2001), a report for the equivalent month in each year would need to be generated, each report taking an hour to run followed by the manipulation of the data. An enhancement to the system to allow for reports on many variables including age is planned for this financial year. The only information available prior to 2001 is that which is reported in annual reports.
The Nurses Board of Western Australia purchased a new nurses registration information system in 2001 (NBIS) at the same time it moved to a three year renewal of registration option and renewal date on the registrant's birth month. The system does not generate an automatic report on registrant age. Each month, the system will generate a report which details the register including registrant name, date of birth, ID number, expiry date of registration, category of registration, etc. This report, for one month, takes one hour to run and is generally run overnight as it slows down the system for registration staff using it during the day. The information is then transferred to an Excel spreadsheet where the data can be manipulated. To calculate the age of the registrants based on their date of birth, a formula is used which takes into account days of the year and today's date. A further analysis on age brackets, and how many registrants fall into these age brackets, is required. This exercise was undertaken in January 2005 and repeated for September 2006, copies of which are attached [tabled paper _____]. For each time period (e.g. every year from 2001), a report for the equivalent month in each year would need to be generated, each report taking an hour to run followed by the manipulation of the data. An enhancement to the system to allow for reports on many variables including age is planned for this financial year. The only information available prior to 2001 is that which is reported in annual reports.
For each time period (e.g. every year from 2001), a report for the equivalent month in each year would need to be generated, each report taking an hour to run followed by the manipulation of the data. An enhancement to the system to allow for reports on many variables including age is planned for this financial year. The only information available prior to 2001 is that which is reported in annual reports.
The only information available prior to 2001 is that which is reported in annual reports.
The Nurses Board of Western Australia purchased a new nurses registration information system in 2001 (NBIS) at the same time it moved to a three year renewal of registration option and renewal date on the registrant's birth month. The system does not generate an automatic report on registrant age. Each month, the system will generate a report which details the register including registrant name, date of birth, ID number, expiry date of registration, category of registration, etc. This report, for one month, takes one hour to run and is generally run overnight as it slows down the system for registration staff using it during the day. The information is then transferred to an Excel spreadsheet where the data can be manipulated. To calculate the age of the registrants based on their date of birth, a formula is used which takes into account days of the year and today's date. A further analysis on age brackets, and how many registrants fall into these age brackets, is required. This exercise was undertaken in January 2005 and repeated for September 2006, copies of which are attached [tabled paper _____]. For each time period (e.g. every year from 2001), a report for the equivalent month in each year would need to be generated, each report taking an hour to run followed by the manipulation of the data. An enhancement to the system to allow for reports on many variables including age is planned for this financial year. The only information available prior to 2001 is that which is reported in annual reports.
For each time period (e.g. every year from 2001), a report for the equivalent month in each year would need to be generated, each report taking an hour to run followed by the manipulation of the data. An enhancement to the system to allow for reports on many variables including age is planned for this financial year. The only information available prior to 2001 is that which is reported in annual reports.
The only information available prior to 2001 is that which is reported in annual reports.
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.