❓ The Minister for Health addresses concerns about the impact of gas supply disruptions on healthcare, particularly linen supply. Mitigation strategies and prioritization of health services in gas allocation are outlined.
AnsweredQoN 277Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
APACHE ENERGY GAS PLANT EXPLOSION — IMPACT ON HEALTH CARE
Can the minister advise what plans are being put in place to ensure patient health care is not impacted on by the reduction in gas supplies to Western Australia? Mr J.A. McGINTY
Can the minister advise what plans are being put in place to ensure patient health care is not impacted on by the reduction in gas supplies to Western Australia? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
I inform the house that there has been minimal disruption to WA health procurement and distribution systems as a result of the disruption of gas supply from the north west of the state. The only significant implication for WA Health has been in the area of linen supply. On 4 June 2008, most metropolitan hospitals with external linen contracts had been contacted by Ensign-Spotless, which is the external linen contractor, and informed of service disruptions with a request to conserve all linen products to prolong availability. On 5 June, linen laundering was restricted to essential products, including all bed linen, theatre uniforms and theatre linen such as drapes. Staff were requested to launder their own uniforms and hospitals were encouraged to conserve linen. At 1.00 pm on 6 June, Ensign-Spotless reported to health corporate network supply that after discussions with Alinta, it had been assured of ongoing availability of gas supply to meet demand. As at yesterday, there continued to be ongoing shortfalls in linen availability due to the external contract for managing the accumulation of unlaundered linen from last week. That is expected to be corrected within the next day or so. So far as the future is concerned, the Office of Energy is completing a gas allocation strategy that will be used to prioritise allocation of gas resources to agencies and industry throughout Western Australia. The chief executive officer of the Office of Energy has advised the Department of Health that the first two priorities are the state’s energy supply systems and the state’s essential services. Of course, the Department of Health is identified as an essential service. The Office of Energy is of the opinion that the gas needs of the Department of Health and of suppliers and service providers to the Department of Health are relatively small in the broader scheme of things. It does not foresee any significant difficulty in meeting health-related demands. The Office of Energy has, however, requested Department of Health to assist in management of the incidence by reducing needs where possible and to exercise discretion when labelling services as “critical”. Practical measures the Department of Health may take include having staff wash their own uniforms, excluding theatre scrubs; purchasing consumable theatre linen; providing additional staff to increase in-house laundry service capacity; and consideration could, if the need arises, be given to purchasing interstate laundry services.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I inform the house that there has been minimal disruption to WA health procurement and distribution systems as a result of the disruption of gas supply from the north west of the state. The only significant implication for WA Health has been in the area of linen supply. On 4 June 2008, most metropolitan hospitals with external linen contracts had been contacted by Ensign-Spotless, which is the external linen contractor, and informed of service disruptions with a request to conserve all linen products to prolong availability. On 5 June, linen laundering was restricted to essential products, including all bed linen, theatre uniforms and theatre linen such as drapes. Staff were requested to launder their own uniforms and hospitals were encouraged to conserve linen. At 1.00 pm on 6 June, Ensign-Spotless reported to health corporate network supply that after discussions with Alinta, it had been assured of ongoing availability of gas supply to meet demand. As at yesterday, there continued to be ongoing shortfalls in linen availability due to the external contract for managing the accumulation of unlaundered linen from last week. That is expected to be corrected within the next day or so. So far as the future is concerned, the Office of Energy is completing a gas allocation strategy that will be used to prioritise allocation of gas resources to agencies and industry throughout Western Australia. The chief executive officer of the Office of Energy has advised the Department of Health that the first two priorities are the state’s energy supply systems and the state’s essential services. Of course, the Department of Health is identified as an essential service. The Office of Energy is of the opinion that the gas needs of the Department of Health and of suppliers and service providers to the Department of Health are relatively small in the broader scheme of things. It does not foresee any significant difficulty in meeting health-related demands. The Office of Energy has, however, requested Department of Health to assist in management of the incidence by reducing needs where possible and to exercise discretion when labelling services as “critical”. Practical measures the Department of Health may take include having staff wash their own uniforms, excluding theatre scrubs; purchasing consumable theatre linen; providing additional staff to increase in-house laundry service capacity; and consideration could, if the need arises, be given to purchasing interstate laundry services.
I inform the house that there has been minimal disruption to WA health procurement and distribution systems as a result of the disruption of gas supply from the north west of the state. The only significant implication for WA Health has been in the area of linen supply. On 4 June 2008, most metropolitan hospitals with external linen contracts had been contacted by Ensign-Spotless, which is the external linen contractor, and informed of service disruptions with a request to conserve all linen products to prolong availability. On 5 June, linen laundering was restricted to essential products, including all bed linen, theatre uniforms and theatre linen such as drapes. Staff were requested to launder their own uniforms and hospitals were encouraged to conserve linen. At 1.00 pm on 6 June, Ensign-Spotless reported to health corporate network supply that after discussions with Alinta, it had been assured of ongoing availability of gas supply to meet demand. As at yesterday, there continued to be ongoing shortfalls in linen availability due to the external contract for managing the accumulation of unlaundered linen from last week. That is expected to be corrected within the next day or so. So far as the future is concerned, the Office of Energy is completing a gas allocation strategy that will be used to prioritise allocation of gas resources to agencies and industry throughout Western Australia. The chief executive officer of the Office of Energy has advised the Department of Health that the first two priorities are the state’s energy supply systems and the state’s essential services. Of course, the Department of Health is identified as an essential service. The Office of Energy is of the opinion that the gas needs of the Department of Health and of suppliers and service providers to the Department of Health are relatively small in the broader scheme of things. It does not foresee any significant difficulty in meeting health-related demands. The Office of Energy has, however, requested Department of Health to assist in management of the incidence by reducing needs where possible and to exercise discretion when labelling services as “critical”. Practical measures the Department of Health may take include having staff wash their own uniforms, excluding theatre scrubs; purchasing consumable theatre linen; providing additional staff to increase in-house laundry service capacity; and consideration could, if the need arises, be given to purchasing interstate laundry services.
So far as the future is concerned, the Office of Energy is completing a gas allocation strategy that will be used to prioritise allocation of gas resources to agencies and industry throughout Western Australia. The chief executive officer of the Office of Energy has advised the Department of Health that the first two priorities are the state’s energy supply systems and the state’s essential services. Of course, the Department of Health is identified as an essential service. The Office of Energy is of the opinion that the gas needs of the Department of Health and of suppliers and service providers to the Department of Health are relatively small in the broader scheme of things. It does not foresee any significant difficulty in meeting health-related demands. The Office of Energy has, however, requested Department of Health to assist in management of the incidence by reducing needs where possible and to exercise discretion when labelling services as “critical”. Practical measures the Department of Health may take include having staff wash their own uniforms, excluding theatre scrubs; purchasing consumable theatre linen; providing additional staff to increase in-house laundry service capacity; and consideration could, if the need arises, be given to purchasing interstate laundry services.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I inform the house that there has been minimal disruption to WA health procurement and distribution systems as a result of the disruption of gas supply from the north west of the state. The only significant implication for WA Health has been in the area of linen supply. On 4 June 2008, most metropolitan hospitals with external linen contracts had been contacted by Ensign-Spotless, which is the external linen contractor, and informed of service disruptions with a request to conserve all linen products to prolong availability. On 5 June, linen laundering was restricted to essential products, including all bed linen, theatre uniforms and theatre linen such as drapes. Staff were requested to launder their own uniforms and hospitals were encouraged to conserve linen. At 1.00 pm on 6 June, Ensign-Spotless reported to health corporate network supply that after discussions with Alinta, it had been assured of ongoing availability of gas supply to meet demand. As at yesterday, there continued to be ongoing shortfalls in linen availability due to the external contract for managing the accumulation of unlaundered linen from last week. That is expected to be corrected within the next day or so. So far as the future is concerned, the Office of Energy is completing a gas allocation strategy that will be used to prioritise allocation of gas resources to agencies and industry throughout Western Australia. The chief executive officer of the Office of Energy has advised the Department of Health that the first two priorities are the state’s energy supply systems and the state’s essential services. Of course, the Department of Health is identified as an essential service. The Office of Energy is of the opinion that the gas needs of the Department of Health and of suppliers and service providers to the Department of Health are relatively small in the broader scheme of things. It does not foresee any significant difficulty in meeting health-related demands. The Office of Energy has, however, requested Department of Health to assist in management of the incidence by reducing needs where possible and to exercise discretion when labelling services as “critical”. Practical measures the Department of Health may take include having staff wash their own uniforms, excluding theatre scrubs; purchasing consumable theatre linen; providing additional staff to increase in-house laundry service capacity; and consideration could, if the need arises, be given to purchasing interstate laundry services.
I inform the house that there has been minimal disruption to WA health procurement and distribution systems as a result of the disruption of gas supply from the north west of the state. The only significant implication for WA Health has been in the area of linen supply. On 4 June 2008, most metropolitan hospitals with external linen contracts had been contacted by Ensign-Spotless, which is the external linen contractor, and informed of service disruptions with a request to conserve all linen products to prolong availability. On 5 June, linen laundering was restricted to essential products, including all bed linen, theatre uniforms and theatre linen such as drapes. Staff were requested to launder their own uniforms and hospitals were encouraged to conserve linen. At 1.00 pm on 6 June, Ensign-Spotless reported to health corporate network supply that after discussions with Alinta, it had been assured of ongoing availability of gas supply to meet demand. As at yesterday, there continued to be ongoing shortfalls in linen availability due to the external contract for managing the accumulation of unlaundered linen from last week. That is expected to be corrected within the next day or so. So far as the future is concerned, the Office of Energy is completing a gas allocation strategy that will be used to prioritise allocation of gas resources to agencies and industry throughout Western Australia. The chief executive officer of the Office of Energy has advised the Department of Health that the first two priorities are the state’s energy supply systems and the state’s essential services. Of course, the Department of Health is identified as an essential service. The Office of Energy is of the opinion that the gas needs of the Department of Health and of suppliers and service providers to the Department of Health are relatively small in the broader scheme of things. It does not foresee any significant difficulty in meeting health-related demands. The Office of Energy has, however, requested Department of Health to assist in management of the incidence by reducing needs where possible and to exercise discretion when labelling services as “critical”. Practical measures the Department of Health may take include having staff wash their own uniforms, excluding theatre scrubs; purchasing consumable theatre linen; providing additional staff to increase in-house laundry service capacity; and consideration could, if the need arises, be given to purchasing interstate laundry services.
So far as the future is concerned, the Office of Energy is completing a gas allocation strategy that will be used to prioritise allocation of gas resources to agencies and industry throughout Western Australia. The chief executive officer of the Office of Energy has advised the Department of Health that the first two priorities are the state’s energy supply systems and the state’s essential services. Of course, the Department of Health is identified as an essential service. The Office of Energy is of the opinion that the gas needs of the Department of Health and of suppliers and service providers to the Department of Health are relatively small in the broader scheme of things. It does not foresee any significant difficulty in meeting health-related demands. The Office of Energy has, however, requested Department of Health to assist in management of the incidence by reducing needs where possible and to exercise discretion when labelling services as “critical”. Practical measures the Department of Health may take include having staff wash their own uniforms, excluding theatre scrubs; purchasing consumable theatre linen; providing additional staff to increase in-house laundry service capacity; and consideration could, if the need arises, be given to purchasing interstate laundry services.
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