❓ Mr. Cook questions the Minister for Health about a growing shortage of child health nurses, citing reports and the Premier's commitment to children. The Minister acknowledges the issue, details past funding for related services, and outlines future plans.
AnsweredQoN 83Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CHILD HEALTH NURSES — SHORTAGE
83. Mr R.H. COOK to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the thirteenth report of
the Education and Health Standing Committee tabled earlier today and the
finding that the shortage in the number of child health nurses has reached a
staggering 151 across the state.
(1) What has
the minister done since receiving reports from the Commissioner for Children
and Young People, Michelle Scott, and Professor Fiona Stanley that as of 7
April 2010 the shortage in the number of child health nurses was estimated at
105?
(2) What
additional steps, if any, will the minister now take with the revelation that
the shortage is getting worse—it is now more than 150?
(3) Given the
Premier's remarks that children should be the main beneficiaries of the
mining boom, when will the minister act on this important issue for Western
Australian families?
83. Mr R.H. COOK to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the thirteenth report of
the Education and Health Standing Committee tabled earlier today and the
finding that the shortage in the number of child health nurses has reached a
staggering 151 across the state.
(1) What has
the minister done since receiving reports from the Commissioner for Children
and Young People, Michelle Scott, and Professor Fiona Stanley that as of 7
April 2010 the shortage in the number of child health nurses was estimated at
105?
(2) What
additional steps, if any, will the minister now take with the revelation that
the shortage is getting worse—it is now more than 150?
(3) Given the
Premier's remarks that children should be the main beneficiaries of the
mining boom, when will the minister act on this important issue for Western
Australian families?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) I
wish I had a copy of the answer I gave the last time this question was asked.
Although there was a slight variation in the question, the answer has not
changed. What the parliamentary committee put to this house 18 months ago was
that there was a critical need for two things in the provision of child health
services, one of which was for children's services such as speech
pathology, physiotherapy and the like. A significant deficiency had built up
over a large number of years in that area. In fact, I well remember when the
member for Bassendean, who is not in the chamber at the moment, and I were
members of that committee. The member wanted the committee to inquire into that
significant deficiency in criticism of the then Labor government.
Mr
R.H. Cook : So you've known this has been a problem for the entire
time you've been the minister.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : We had not started the inquiry. It was suggested by a Labor
member that there were problems in that area. The then opposition agreed that
there should be an inquiry into it. Before the committee got into that inquiry,
Labor's former leader called an early election.
Mr
J.E. McGrath : What a good call!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : What a good call that was! We got a good government with the
capacity to deal with that area.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : We obviously waited for the committee to do that assessment and
come back with a report. The report showed two significant areas of deficiency:
one was, as I have said, in those services and the other was in child health
clinics and school nurses. In the budget prior to the last budget, I took to
government a proposal to significantly increase funding and was successful in
getting about $50 million over four years to address a component of that—that
is, speech therapists and the like. In doing that, we have now cut the waiting
times in all those areas by more than 50 per cent. That was the commitment we
made when we put in those additional funds.
I well recognise that we have not
tackled the other half of that problem—the deficiency in child health
clinics and school nurses. That is something that I hope to do as we move
forward in this term of government. I regard it as critically important; I
agree with the committee and those involved in child health that it is
critically important. One thing to note is that we are very good at seeing
children for their first assessment. It is true that once a child gets to about
three years of age, there is a very low compliance rate in taking the child to
a clinic. As a doctor and the parent of six kids, I know that often kids are
not taken to child health clinics for follow-up visits. I would mostly see
those children in my surgery and do assessments.
I happen to know, as a parent, that
when our children got to that age, if my wife had any issues about their
development, she would take them to a local GP to do that assessment, and that
GP would refer them to a specialist.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you, members!
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Most parents I know regard child health clinic nurses as being extremely
valuable in early childhood assessment, and in giving advice, particularly on
maternal issues and things like how babies sleep, breastfeeding and areas of
ill-health of the child. But as the child gets older and gets to two or three
years of age, a lot of parents would prefer to see their local doctor about
issues like that.
Ms
R. Saffioti : No, because they cannot get an appointment.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : Of course they can get an appointment with their local doctor;
of course they can.
Several members interjected.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : If the member gives me the name of her local doctor, I will
ring and get her an appointment in the next two days. What a load of nonsense!
Doctors look after their patients. Doctors will see their patients.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
R.H. Cook : We are not talking about doctors. We are talking about child
health nurses.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : We are talking about doctors only because the member for West
Swan interjected about the ability of people to see doctors; otherwise I would
not be talking about that issue any further. The reality is that we recognise
that there is a need, and I am working very hard to make sure that those needs
that we have in looking after child healthcare are fully recognised by this
government.
wish I had a copy of the answer I gave the last time this question was asked.
Although there was a slight variation in the question, the answer has not
changed. What the parliamentary committee put to this house 18 months ago was
that there was a critical need for two things in the provision of child health
services, one of which was for children's services such as speech
pathology, physiotherapy and the like. A significant deficiency had built up
over a large number of years in that area. In fact, I well remember when the
member for Bassendean, who is not in the chamber at the moment, and I were
members of that committee. The member wanted the committee to inquire into that
significant deficiency in criticism of the then Labor government.
Mr
R.H. Cook : So you've known this has been a problem for the entire
time you've been the minister.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : We had not started the inquiry. It was suggested by a Labor
member that there were problems in that area. The then opposition agreed that
there should be an inquiry into it. Before the committee got into that inquiry,
Labor's former leader called an early election.
Mr
J.E. McGrath : What a good call!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : What a good call that was! We got a good government with the
capacity to deal with that area.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Dr
K.D. HAMES : We obviously waited for the committee to do that assessment and
come back with a report. The report showed two significant areas of deficiency:
one was, as I have said, in those services and the other was in child health
clinics and school nurses. In the budget prior to the last budget, I took to
government a proposal to significantly increase funding and was successful in
getting about $50 million over four years to address a component of that—that
is, speech therapists and the like. In doing that, we have now cut the waiting
times in all those areas by more than 50 per cent. That was the commitment we
made when we put in those additional funds.
I well recognise that we have not
tackled the other half of that problem—the deficiency in child health
clinics and school nurses. That is something that I hope to do as we move
forward in this term of government. I regard it as critically important; I
agree with the committee and those involved in child health that it is
critically important. One thing to note is that we are very good at seeing
children for their first assessment. It is true that once a child gets to about
three years of age, there is a very low compliance rate in taking the child to
a clinic. As a doctor and the parent of six kids, I know that often kids are
not taken to child health clinics for follow-up visits. I would mostly see
those children in my surgery and do assessments.
I happen to know, as a parent, that
when our children got to that age, if my wife had any issues about their
development, she would take them to a local GP to do that assessment, and that
GP would refer them to a specialist.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you, members!
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Most parents I know regard child health clinic nurses as being extremely
valuable in early childhood assessment, and in giving advice, particularly on
maternal issues and things like how babies sleep, breastfeeding and areas of
ill-health of the child. But as the child gets older and gets to two or three
years of age, a lot of parents would prefer to see their local doctor about
issues like that.
Ms
R. Saffioti : No, because they cannot get an appointment.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : Of course they can get an appointment with their local doctor;
of course they can.
Several members interjected.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : If the member gives me the name of her local doctor, I will
ring and get her an appointment in the next two days. What a load of nonsense!
Doctors look after their patients. Doctors will see their patients.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
R.H. Cook : We are not talking about doctors. We are talking about child
health nurses.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : We are talking about doctors only because the member for West
Swan interjected about the ability of people to see doctors; otherwise I would
not be talking about that issue any further. The reality is that we recognise
that there is a need, and I am working very hard to make sure that those needs
that we have in looking after child healthcare are fully recognised by this
government.
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.