❓ The Minister for Health provides an update on the progress of Western Australia's first children's hospice, including land acquisition, funding, construction timeline, and the services it will provide to children with life-limiting conditions and their families. The government is collaborating with the Perth Children's Hospital Foundation.
AnsweredQoN 599Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CHILDREN'S HOSPICE
599. Ms H.M. BEAZLEY to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to doing all it can to support children with
life-limiting conditions and their families. Can the minister update the house
on the work underway in helping to deliver Western
Australia's first children's hospice, including the progress to
secure land for the facility and can the minister outline to the house
what the hospice will mean for these children and their families?
599. Ms H.M. BEAZLEY to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to doing all it can to support children with
life-limiting conditions and their families. Can the minister update the house
on the work underway in helping to deliver Western
Australia's first children's hospice, including the progress to
secure land for the facility and can the minister outline to the house
what the hospice will mean for these children and their families?
AnswerView source ↗
Sadly, there are around 2 000
children and their families in Western Australia who live with a life-limiting
disease, a condition that will sadly take their young children from them at
some point early in their lives. I do not think there can be a more compassionate or important role for a government
than to look after these kids and their families at the time of their
greatest need. Some years ago, around August 2019, I went to New South Wales
and visited Bear Cottage, a children's hospice in Sydney that is doing
some outstanding work looking after young children with life-limiting
conditions, and their families, as they go through a very difficult time.
Little did I know that at the same time, Hon Ian Campbell, who I would like to
acknowledge in the Speaker's gallery today and is the chair of the
Perth Children's Hospital Foundation, and Carrick Robinson, the chief
executive officer, were also visiting Bear Cottage. They, like I, were struck
by the important work that was done there.
On 19 September, the McGowan
government announced that Western Australia's first children's
hospital would be built at the former site of the of the Swanbourne Bowling
Club in Odern Crescent, Swanbourne, in partnership with the Perth Children's
Hospital Foundation. This has been made possible with the transfer of crown
land by the McGowan government to the Child and Adolescent Health Service. The
hospice will not impinge on the natural environment around Allen Park, and it
will be built on the site of the demolished bowling club of which I was once a proud
member. This important facility will be made possible through the great
partnership that we have with the Child and
Adolescent Health Service and the Perth Children's Hospital Foundation.
A $4 million Lotterywest grant is being provided to PCH Foundation and
has been awarded towards the construction of Western Australia's first
children's hospice. In addition, the McGowan government has committed
$3.2 million for the hospice project planning and to increase the current
service capacity of the WA Paediatric Palliative Care Service. The children's
hospice is currently estimated to cost around $25 million to build. The PCH
Foundation will provide funding for the construction, fit-out and ongoing
non-operational costs of the hospice, while the state government, through the
Child and Adolescent Health Service, will be responsible for governance,
management and the ongoing clinical operational funding. Construction of the
hospice is planned to begin in late 2022 and it is hoped to open in the first
half of 2024. It will include seven beds and three family accommodation suites
for families, ensuring the service will be
able to provide for regional families as well as those based in Perth. The
design of the hospice will incorporate shared,
family and play rooms and provide outreach support to families and their
children in a beautiful ocean-side setting. The hospice will become an
integral part of the statewide WA Paediatric Palliative Care Service, which
will coordinate holistic support for children and their families.
This is a great program. It is a fantastic
program. I would like to thank the member for Nedlands for her support in it,
and, of course, in particular, Hon Ian Campbell, for his strident support and
shared vision of creating this important
hospice. We know that it will provide an outstanding service for the sickest
and most unfortunate children in our community and it is one about which
the McGowan government is rightfully very proud.
children and their families in Western Australia who live with a life-limiting
disease, a condition that will sadly take their young children from them at
some point early in their lives. I do not think there can be a more compassionate or important role for a government
than to look after these kids and their families at the time of their
greatest need. Some years ago, around August 2019, I went to New South Wales
and visited Bear Cottage, a children's hospice in Sydney that is doing
some outstanding work looking after young children with life-limiting
conditions, and their families, as they go through a very difficult time.
Little did I know that at the same time, Hon Ian Campbell, who I would like to
acknowledge in the Speaker's gallery today and is the chair of the
Perth Children's Hospital Foundation, and Carrick Robinson, the chief
executive officer, were also visiting Bear Cottage. They, like I, were struck
by the important work that was done there.
On 19 September, the McGowan
government announced that Western Australia's first children's
hospital would be built at the former site of the of the Swanbourne Bowling
Club in Odern Crescent, Swanbourne, in partnership with the Perth Children's
Hospital Foundation. This has been made possible with the transfer of crown
land by the McGowan government to the Child and Adolescent Health Service. The
hospice will not impinge on the natural environment around Allen Park, and it
will be built on the site of the demolished bowling club of which I was once a proud
member. This important facility will be made possible through the great
partnership that we have with the Child and
Adolescent Health Service and the Perth Children's Hospital Foundation.
A $4 million Lotterywest grant is being provided to PCH Foundation and
has been awarded towards the construction of Western Australia's first
children's hospice. In addition, the McGowan government has committed
$3.2 million for the hospice project planning and to increase the current
service capacity of the WA Paediatric Palliative Care Service. The children's
hospice is currently estimated to cost around $25 million to build. The PCH
Foundation will provide funding for the construction, fit-out and ongoing
non-operational costs of the hospice, while the state government, through the
Child and Adolescent Health Service, will be responsible for governance,
management and the ongoing clinical operational funding. Construction of the
hospice is planned to begin in late 2022 and it is hoped to open in the first
half of 2024. It will include seven beds and three family accommodation suites
for families, ensuring the service will be
able to provide for regional families as well as those based in Perth. The
design of the hospice will incorporate shared,
family and play rooms and provide outreach support to families and their
children in a beautiful ocean-side setting. The hospice will become an
integral part of the statewide WA Paediatric Palliative Care Service, which
will coordinate holistic support for children and their families.
This is a great program. It is a fantastic
program. I would like to thank the member for Nedlands for her support in it,
and, of course, in particular, Hon Ian Campbell, for his strident support and
shared vision of creating this important
hospice. We know that it will provide an outstanding service for the sickest
and most unfortunate children in our community and it is one about which
the McGowan government is rightfully very proud.
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