❓ Mr. Kirkup questions the Premier on ambulance ramping, accusing him of providing inconsistent explanations. The Premier attributes the issue to COVID-related factors, elective surgery backlogs, and increased mental health presentations.
AnsweredQoN 860Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
AMBULANCE RAMPING
860. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
The SPEAKER : Member for—member
for Dawesville. Sorry, member. Only two weeks to go.
Mr
Z.R.F. KIRKUP : That is right.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Before I commence, I would like to recognise Mr Kenny and the students from Falcon Primary School who are here in the
Speaker's gallery today.
I
refer to the Premier's previous claim that record levels of ambulance
ramping in WA were due to COVID ambulance cleaning, and his recent claim
that they were due to the respiratory illness streaming process, claims that
have since been rubbished by the Australian Medical Association and were today
labelled a disgrace.
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The SPEAKER : Treasurer!
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : When will
the Premier stop this theme and actually provide a plan for the people of Western
Australia to respond to this very real crisis?
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The SPEAKER : Treasurer, I heard
you the first four times. I call you to order.
860. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
The SPEAKER : Member for—member
for Dawesville. Sorry, member. Only two weeks to go.
Mr
Z.R.F. KIRKUP : That is right.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Before I commence, I would like to recognise Mr Kenny and the students from Falcon Primary School who are here in the
Speaker's gallery today.
I
refer to the Premier's previous claim that record levels of ambulance
ramping in WA were due to COVID ambulance cleaning, and his recent claim
that they were due to the respiratory illness streaming process, claims that
have since been rubbished by the Australian Medical Association and were today
labelled a disgrace.
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The SPEAKER : Treasurer!
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : When will
the Premier stop this theme and actually provide a plan for the people of Western
Australia to respond to this very real crisis?
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The SPEAKER : Treasurer, I heard
you the first four times. I call you to order.
AnswerView source ↗
I have not heard the Australian
Medical Association's latest commentary on this issue.
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The AMA does
have many views and it has obviously been in communication with the Liberal Party. Our position has been very clear.
Over the course of this year, we have been dealing with a worldwide
pandemic, the likes of which have not been seen for a hundred years. We have
had to do some very, very difficult things in all sorts of areas. We had to
suspend most elective surgery for months and months. That freed up positions in
hospitals, but also created a big backlog of activity. That activity is now
being caught up, and it will take a long time to get through it. That means
beds are occupied at very, very high levels in our hospitals. Our hospitals are
very full with people recovering from elective surgery, which is logically understandable,
if members think about what we are currently having to cope with.
Secondly, as I said the other day,
hospitals, which are vulnerable environments, with many vulnerable people in them, have to be extremely careful about how they
deal with people who may be, as unlikely as it is, COVID positive .
Therefore, they have streaming measures within the emergency departments. We
have put in place hospital liaison officers
with St John Ambulance to ensure that we try to manage those issues in our
major hospitals as much as possible. Thirdly,
there is an enhanced cleaning regime in ambulances. Enhanced cleaning obviously
slows down the operation of the system. Like we are doing everywhere, it slows
things down. Those three things are totally understandable.
The
fourth bit of advice I have had from the Department of Health is that there
appears to be a spike in mental health presentations in our emergency
departments. It is difficult to know why that is, but there appears to be a significantly
increased number of presentations. Over the very, very dire period of COVID,
earlier this year, there was a decline in the number of mental health
presentations. As difficult as it seems, perhaps there is some catch-up going
on with people attending emergency departments who did not attend earlier. That
is the advice I have received from the director general of the Department of
Health.
All those things have been happening
in our emergency departments in this difficult year, but I tell you what, if
you got sick, you would want to be here rather than anywhere else in the world.
We have the best hospitals, the best-trained staff and the best system; you
would want to be here. If we look at hospitals around the world, we see that
they are overflowing. Once hospitals overflow, people die in large numbers.
That is what is happening all over the world, but it is not happening here. We
are prepared and we are ready as best we can be for whatever may come in this
environment. I once again urge the Liberal Party—although it does not
seem to matter how many times I say it—to be a little bit constructive
in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.
Medical Association's latest commentary on this issue.
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The AMA does
have many views and it has obviously been in communication with the Liberal Party. Our position has been very clear.
Over the course of this year, we have been dealing with a worldwide
pandemic, the likes of which have not been seen for a hundred years. We have
had to do some very, very difficult things in all sorts of areas. We had to
suspend most elective surgery for months and months. That freed up positions in
hospitals, but also created a big backlog of activity. That activity is now
being caught up, and it will take a long time to get through it. That means
beds are occupied at very, very high levels in our hospitals. Our hospitals are
very full with people recovering from elective surgery, which is logically understandable,
if members think about what we are currently having to cope with.
Secondly, as I said the other day,
hospitals, which are vulnerable environments, with many vulnerable people in them, have to be extremely careful about how they
deal with people who may be, as unlikely as it is, COVID positive .
Therefore, they have streaming measures within the emergency departments. We
have put in place hospital liaison officers
with St John Ambulance to ensure that we try to manage those issues in our
major hospitals as much as possible. Thirdly,
there is an enhanced cleaning regime in ambulances. Enhanced cleaning obviously
slows down the operation of the system. Like we are doing everywhere, it slows
things down. Those three things are totally understandable.
The
fourth bit of advice I have had from the Department of Health is that there
appears to be a spike in mental health presentations in our emergency
departments. It is difficult to know why that is, but there appears to be a significantly
increased number of presentations. Over the very, very dire period of COVID,
earlier this year, there was a decline in the number of mental health
presentations. As difficult as it seems, perhaps there is some catch-up going
on with people attending emergency departments who did not attend earlier. That
is the advice I have received from the director general of the Department of
Health.
All those things have been happening
in our emergency departments in this difficult year, but I tell you what, if
you got sick, you would want to be here rather than anywhere else in the world.
We have the best hospitals, the best-trained staff and the best system; you
would want to be here. If we look at hospitals around the world, we see that
they are overflowing. Once hospitals overflow, people die in large numbers.
That is what is happening all over the world, but it is not happening here. We
are prepared and we are ready as best we can be for whatever may come in this
environment. I once again urge the Liberal Party—although it does not
seem to matter how many times I say it—to be a little bit constructive
in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.
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