❓ The Minister for Health provides an update on COVID-19 testing in regional WA, including the opening of a regional clinic in Bunbury and existing testing options. They also highlight support for healthcare workers and increased resources within the Department of Health.
AnsweredQoN 174Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS — TESTING — REGIONAL
AREAS
174. Mrs R.M.J. CLARKE to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the state government's response to the
impact of COVID-19 on our health system.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the testing regime being undertaken for COVID-19?
In particular, what is happening in regional Western Australia?
(2) Can the
minister update the house on how the government is providing more support for
our healthcare workers during this difficult time?
AREAS
174. Mrs R.M.J. CLARKE to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the state government's response to the
impact of COVID-19 on our health system.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the testing regime being undertaken for COVID-19?
In particular, what is happening in regional Western Australia?
(2) Can the
minister update the house on how the government is providing more support for
our healthcare workers during this difficult time?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
I thank the member for the question. It is an important question for the
members of her constituency, who will be very interested to hear that from
tomorrow we will be opening up our first regional COVID-19 clinic at the
Bunbury Regional Hospital at the South West Health Campus. It will be set up to
assist not only the doctors and nurses who are working on the front line in the
emergency department and other areas of the hospital, but also, most
importantly, the people in that community, so that they have a place that they
can go to if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and have recently travelled or have
come into close contact with someone who has been confirmed as a COVID-19 case.
Clinic staff will also be tested for COVID-19. In particular, we will be
providing them with information and support to make sure that they understand
what needs to happen if they have a temperature or an influenza-like illness.
As I said, the clinic will open tomorrow morning. It will operate from 10 am to
4 pm, seven days a week.
Currently, people residing in
country WA who meet the testing criteria are also able to be tested for
suspected COVID-19 at one of WA Country Health Service's 100 hospitals
and health services. They can also be tested at clinics operated by the Royal
Flying Doctor Service, the Aboriginal Medical Service, or Silver Chain. They
are not required to travel to the metropolitan area for testing, which, of
course, is an important element.
Of all the regions, the south west
area is the most densely populated, with more than 170 000 residents. It comes
as no surprise that of our regional communities the demand for testing is
highest there. So far, over 300 residents in the region have been tested for the
COVID-19 virus and cleared. I had discussions today with the Western Australian
Primary Health Alliance, which detailed to me some of its ambitions for COVID-related clinics in other regional areas
of Western Australia, specifically Albany and Geraldton . We very much
look forward to advancing the plans that are currently in place for extending
these clinics to other regional areas.
Anyone who experiences symptoms
outside of clinic hours should continue to use the emergency department of the
local hospital. If the situation deteriorates, they should call 000. People
should also be reminded to take precautions over the coming months including
social distancing and making sure they practice good personal hygiene, such as
washing their hands, and sneezing or coughing into the crook of their arm or a tissue.
In particular, if they are suffering from flu-like symptoms they should stay
away from others, including family members, friends and, in particular, older Western
Australians. The WA Department of Health is significantly tooling up and
muscling up to make sure that it has the people and the clinics to serve Western
Australians wherever they may live. Yesterday I announced advertising of our
new work pools. I am pleased to say that by day end yesterday we had had almost
32 000 hits to that website. By this morning we had almost 1 000 applications
from doctors, nurses, allied health staff and support workers who have heeded
the call to sign up and be part of our great effort to make sure that, as a community,
we get through this COVID-19 influenza crisis.
I thank the member for the question. It is an important question for the
members of her constituency, who will be very interested to hear that from
tomorrow we will be opening up our first regional COVID-19 clinic at the
Bunbury Regional Hospital at the South West Health Campus. It will be set up to
assist not only the doctors and nurses who are working on the front line in the
emergency department and other areas of the hospital, but also, most
importantly, the people in that community, so that they have a place that they
can go to if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and have recently travelled or have
come into close contact with someone who has been confirmed as a COVID-19 case.
Clinic staff will also be tested for COVID-19. In particular, we will be
providing them with information and support to make sure that they understand
what needs to happen if they have a temperature or an influenza-like illness.
As I said, the clinic will open tomorrow morning. It will operate from 10 am to
4 pm, seven days a week.
Currently, people residing in
country WA who meet the testing criteria are also able to be tested for
suspected COVID-19 at one of WA Country Health Service's 100 hospitals
and health services. They can also be tested at clinics operated by the Royal
Flying Doctor Service, the Aboriginal Medical Service, or Silver Chain. They
are not required to travel to the metropolitan area for testing, which, of
course, is an important element.
Of all the regions, the south west
area is the most densely populated, with more than 170 000 residents. It comes
as no surprise that of our regional communities the demand for testing is
highest there. So far, over 300 residents in the region have been tested for the
COVID-19 virus and cleared. I had discussions today with the Western Australian
Primary Health Alliance, which detailed to me some of its ambitions for COVID-related clinics in other regional areas
of Western Australia, specifically Albany and Geraldton . We very much
look forward to advancing the plans that are currently in place for extending
these clinics to other regional areas.
Anyone who experiences symptoms
outside of clinic hours should continue to use the emergency department of the
local hospital. If the situation deteriorates, they should call 000. People
should also be reminded to take precautions over the coming months including
social distancing and making sure they practice good personal hygiene, such as
washing their hands, and sneezing or coughing into the crook of their arm or a tissue.
In particular, if they are suffering from flu-like symptoms they should stay
away from others, including family members, friends and, in particular, older Western
Australians. The WA Department of Health is significantly tooling up and
muscling up to make sure that it has the people and the clinics to serve Western
Australians wherever they may live. Yesterday I announced advertising of our
new work pools. I am pleased to say that by day end yesterday we had had almost
32 000 hits to that website. By this morning we had almost 1 000 applications
from doctors, nurses, allied health staff and support workers who have heeded
the call to sign up and be part of our great effort to make sure that, as a community,
we get through this COVID-19 influenza crisis.
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.