❓ Question addresses the Cook Labor government's $827 million investment in emergency access initiatives, specifically the expansion of the WA virtual emergency department and a new mental health co-response model. The Minister details investments in WAVED, mental health support, and geriatrician-led virtual care.
AnsweredQoN 284Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS
284. Mr D.A.E. SCAIFE to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's delivery of initiatives to address pressure on emergency
departments.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on this government's $827 million investment
in emergency access initiatives in tomorrow's state budget?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how this investment will deliver an expansion of the
WA virtual emergency department alongside a new mental health co-response
model?
284. Mr D.A.E. SCAIFE to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's delivery of initiatives to address pressure on emergency
departments.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on this government's $827 million investment
in emergency access initiatives in tomorrow's state budget?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how this investment will deliver an expansion of the
WA virtual emergency department alongside a new mental health co-response
model?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for Cockburn for the question. We have, over the past few
weeks, but certainly over the past couple of years, really invested in reforms
to our health system and how we deliver care, doing things differently, not
doing things the same way that we have been doing it for many, many decades. Reducing
ramping has been a priority of this government, and I am very pleased that I have
been well supported by the cabinet and the
Premier with the establishment of the Ministerial Taskforce on Ambulance Ramping that I chaired. It has accepted and supported a range of reforms across
the system that are aimed at reducing pressure from the front door of the
hospital all the way through the hospital, to addressing the barriers to timely
discharge, and discharging members of the community into more appropriate care,
like aged care, Hospital in the Home, disability supports and mental health
step-downs.
In the budget that will be handed
down tomorrow by the Treasurer, we have already announced that we will spend
another $47 million to expand the WA virtual emergency department. That will
see a doubling of the virtual emergency department, which is currently
co-located with St John Ambulance State Health Operations Centre. There are
clinicians, emergency consultants, nurse practitioners and nursing staff in that call room, triaging, supporting and providing
online virtual consults to people to either fast track them through to
an inpatient or specialist service, or provide in-reach services with a nurse
practitioner in their home to provide them with the care that they need at
home.
Anyone who has taken an elderly
relative to a busy emergency department understands that that is not the best
place for them. Long hospital stays generally result in a deterioration of
elderly patients and large tertiary hospitals are not the best place for them.
We have had lots of good feedback and evidence from patients and families that
this is a much-preferred service for their loved ones.
The other cohort who are frequent
visitors to emergency departments is those experiencing a mental health crisis.
We know that after hours, often the only available support is the emergency
department. This doubling of the WA virtual emergency department will more than
double the number of staff. It will also include authorised mental health practitioners.
When I say ''authorised'', they are registered under the
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and under the Mental Health
Act. That will provide a new mental health co-response and it will be a health-led
response. The police will be called in situations in which there are safety
concerns for the patient or for people around them as required, but the primary
response will be health practitioners, and that is the most appropriate
response. That is the model that clients, consumers and family have all said to
us is what they need. Someone will call 000, they will be sent through to the
WAVED, they will be triaged by a mental health clinician through that emergency
department, an ambulance may be dispatched, and someone may be brought into the
inpatient system, but that ambulance will have a trained paramedic and also a mental
health practitioner. They will have powers under the act to prescribe and also
refer people into both inpatient and community-based services. This is a really
important model that we are launching with this budget. I want to thank all our
partners, in particular St John Ambulance, for their support in this model.
We are also seeing $8.6 million for
an expansion of the geriatrician-led virtual care services. That is also known
as Co-HIVE —community health in a virtual environment—and is
run by the East Metropolitan Health Service. It forms part of the WAVED
response and allows aged-care facilities to ring a geriatrician out of hours,
any time of day, and get expert consultation for their frail, elderly resident.
As part of that, we are also expanding the nurse practitioner–led
residential care line, which connects with Co-HIVE. The geriatrician can
dispatch a nurse practitioner to provide care, prescribe, order scans, and provide
the care that the patient needs in their residential care home.
Also
new to Western Australia will be the co-funding of a trial of extended care
paramedics with St John WA . This is a really important career pathway
for paramedics in Western Australia. They operate in other states and
territories and, recently, national health ministers agreed that they should be
registered under the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. They
will be AHPRA-registered extended care paramedics with a broader scope of
practice to treat people in their homes including to stabilise and treat
wounds, and to provide prescriptions and imaging when required. This is just
one of the many, many reforms that we are undertaking in our health system at a
rapid pace. It has been delivering really, really important gains, including a significant
reduction in ramping hours by 40 per cent over the last two years.
thank the member for Cockburn for the question. We have, over the past few
weeks, but certainly over the past couple of years, really invested in reforms
to our health system and how we deliver care, doing things differently, not
doing things the same way that we have been doing it for many, many decades. Reducing
ramping has been a priority of this government, and I am very pleased that I have
been well supported by the cabinet and the
Premier with the establishment of the Ministerial Taskforce on Ambulance Ramping that I chaired. It has accepted and supported a range of reforms across
the system that are aimed at reducing pressure from the front door of the
hospital all the way through the hospital, to addressing the barriers to timely
discharge, and discharging members of the community into more appropriate care,
like aged care, Hospital in the Home, disability supports and mental health
step-downs.
In the budget that will be handed
down tomorrow by the Treasurer, we have already announced that we will spend
another $47 million to expand the WA virtual emergency department. That will
see a doubling of the virtual emergency department, which is currently
co-located with St John Ambulance State Health Operations Centre. There are
clinicians, emergency consultants, nurse practitioners and nursing staff in that call room, triaging, supporting and providing
online virtual consults to people to either fast track them through to
an inpatient or specialist service, or provide in-reach services with a nurse
practitioner in their home to provide them with the care that they need at
home.
Anyone who has taken an elderly
relative to a busy emergency department understands that that is not the best
place for them. Long hospital stays generally result in a deterioration of
elderly patients and large tertiary hospitals are not the best place for them.
We have had lots of good feedback and evidence from patients and families that
this is a much-preferred service for their loved ones.
The other cohort who are frequent
visitors to emergency departments is those experiencing a mental health crisis.
We know that after hours, often the only available support is the emergency
department. This doubling of the WA virtual emergency department will more than
double the number of staff. It will also include authorised mental health practitioners.
When I say ''authorised'', they are registered under the
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and under the Mental Health
Act. That will provide a new mental health co-response and it will be a health-led
response. The police will be called in situations in which there are safety
concerns for the patient or for people around them as required, but the primary
response will be health practitioners, and that is the most appropriate
response. That is the model that clients, consumers and family have all said to
us is what they need. Someone will call 000, they will be sent through to the
WAVED, they will be triaged by a mental health clinician through that emergency
department, an ambulance may be dispatched, and someone may be brought into the
inpatient system, but that ambulance will have a trained paramedic and also a mental
health practitioner. They will have powers under the act to prescribe and also
refer people into both inpatient and community-based services. This is a really
important model that we are launching with this budget. I want to thank all our
partners, in particular St John Ambulance, for their support in this model.
We are also seeing $8.6 million for
an expansion of the geriatrician-led virtual care services. That is also known
as Co-HIVE —community health in a virtual environment—and is
run by the East Metropolitan Health Service. It forms part of the WAVED
response and allows aged-care facilities to ring a geriatrician out of hours,
any time of day, and get expert consultation for their frail, elderly resident.
As part of that, we are also expanding the nurse practitioner–led
residential care line, which connects with Co-HIVE. The geriatrician can
dispatch a nurse practitioner to provide care, prescribe, order scans, and provide
the care that the patient needs in their residential care home.
Also
new to Western Australia will be the co-funding of a trial of extended care
paramedics with St John WA . This is a really important career pathway
for paramedics in Western Australia. They operate in other states and
territories and, recently, national health ministers agreed that they should be
registered under the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. They
will be AHPRA-registered extended care paramedics with a broader scope of
practice to treat people in their homes including to stabilise and treat
wounds, and to provide prescriptions and imaging when required. This is just
one of the many, many reforms that we are undertaking in our health system at a
rapid pace. It has been delivering really, really important gains, including a significant
reduction in ramping hours by 40 per cent over the last two years.
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