❓ A WA parliamentary question addresses the closure of maternity services at Bentley Hospital, staffing, and the diversion of patients from Fiona Stanley Hospital. It also inquires about reviews, funding, and expansion of midwifery group practices at other hospitals.
AnsweredQoN 5002Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) I refer to the Minister's announcement that maternity services at Bentley will close and ask: (a) when will maternity services at Bentley cease; (b) how many FTE staff are currently employed there; (c) will all existing staff at Bentley maternity have the option of redeployment elsewhere within WA Health, or will there be some involuntary redundancies; and (d) how many women in total, who planned to have their baby at Fiona Stanley Hospital, were bypassed, and/or diverted or and/or transferred to birth at Bentley maternity since December 2014? (2) I refer to the Report on the Review of Maternity Services other recommendations and ask: (a) will you conduct a Review into Maternity Services at Fiona Stanley Hospital; (b) how much additional funding and resources will you allocate to maternity services at Osborne Park Hospital; (c) what is the Department of Health doing to expand the Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) model of care; (d) which hospitals already provide an MGP model; (e) which other hospital(s) is the Department of Health committed to extending the MGP model to, and what is the timeframe for implementing the MGP at these other hospital(s); and (f) how much money will be allocated to expanding secondary neo-natal facilities, listed by amount per hospital and when will the allocation be made available?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
15 March 2016
Responded by
Minister for Health
Response time
28 days
Answer as at 9 March 2016-
(1)(a) The Bentley Health Service will continue to offer maternity services to the local community until at least mid-2018, subject to ongoing operational and cost efficiency reviews.
(b) Midwives 30.7 Full-time equivalent (FTE)
Student midwife 0.63 FTE
Medical Salaries 1.38 FTE
Medical Support 1.9 FTE
Administration 1.52 FTE
Hotel Services 0.69 FTE
(c) Not applicable.
(d) Data is not available for the period December 2014 to March 2015. The development of systems and processes to capture bypass data was only operationally achievable once the ‘business as usual’ clinical processes were established.
The number of women who were bypassed, diverted and/or transferred to Bentley maternity between April 2015 and December 2015, is as follows:
April 2015 One
May 2015 Nil
June 2015 Nil
July 2015 Two
August 2015 Nil
September 2015 Three
October 2015 Two
November 2015 Three
December 2015 One
January 2016 One
February 2016 One
(2)(a) A review of maternity services is underway at Fiona Stanley Hospital.
(b) A business case is being prepared by the North Metropolitan Health Service for neonatal services at Osborne Park Hospital and planning is in the early stages. Identifying the neonatal expertise required to staff the unit is a priority. Funding and resources will be considered in the context of the plan that is developed.
(c) The Department of Health is committed to the implementation of Midwifery Group Practice in response to the recommendations of the report on the review of maternity services and in alignment with the continuity of care models recommended in the National Maternity Services Plan. The Women and Newborn Health Network have established a Midwifery Continuity of Care Working Group to lead, support and facilitate the identification and implementation of maternity continuity of care/r models in all health services across WA Health. This approach supports the engagement with key stakeholders across the health system and the development of implementations plan and business cases to support implementation if required. All Area Health Services now have at least one midwifery group practice established with further business cases in development for the expansion of the models. WA Health has developed and implemented a flexible salary agreement for midwives working in these models; and developed a Toolkit for implementation of Midwifery Continuity of Care Models and have processes in place to monitor the effectiveness of the models in relation to the consumer experience and the quality of care.
(d) There are currently eight Midwifery Group Practices operating across WA Health, including four at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, the Community Midwifery Program, Armadale Health Service, Bunbury Hospital and Broome Hospital.
(e) Business cases are being developed for Osborne Park Hospital, Rockingham General Hospital and Albany Health Campus. Timeframes will be dependent on service capability and medical support, however it is anticipated these services will have models in place within the next 12 months.
(f) Any expansion of secondary neo-natal facilities will be dependent on the recommended service delivery models outlined in the business cases referred to in the response to question (2)(e). These will inform capital options to enable WA Health to prepare capital funding proposals for consideration by Government through the annual budget process.
(1)(a) The Bentley Health Service will continue to offer maternity services to the local community until at least mid-2018, subject to ongoing operational and cost efficiency reviews.
(b) Midwives 30.7 Full-time equivalent (FTE)
Student midwife 0.63 FTE
Medical Salaries 1.38 FTE
Medical Support 1.9 FTE
Administration 1.52 FTE
Hotel Services 0.69 FTE
(c) Not applicable.
(d) Data is not available for the period December 2014 to March 2015. The development of systems and processes to capture bypass data was only operationally achievable once the ‘business as usual’ clinical processes were established.
The number of women who were bypassed, diverted and/or transferred to Bentley maternity between April 2015 and December 2015, is as follows:
April 2015 One
May 2015 Nil
June 2015 Nil
July 2015 Two
August 2015 Nil
September 2015 Three
October 2015 Two
November 2015 Three
December 2015 One
January 2016 One
February 2016 One
(2)(a) A review of maternity services is underway at Fiona Stanley Hospital.
(b) A business case is being prepared by the North Metropolitan Health Service for neonatal services at Osborne Park Hospital and planning is in the early stages. Identifying the neonatal expertise required to staff the unit is a priority. Funding and resources will be considered in the context of the plan that is developed.
(c) The Department of Health is committed to the implementation of Midwifery Group Practice in response to the recommendations of the report on the review of maternity services and in alignment with the continuity of care models recommended in the National Maternity Services Plan. The Women and Newborn Health Network have established a Midwifery Continuity of Care Working Group to lead, support and facilitate the identification and implementation of maternity continuity of care/r models in all health services across WA Health. This approach supports the engagement with key stakeholders across the health system and the development of implementations plan and business cases to support implementation if required. All Area Health Services now have at least one midwifery group practice established with further business cases in development for the expansion of the models. WA Health has developed and implemented a flexible salary agreement for midwives working in these models; and developed a Toolkit for implementation of Midwifery Continuity of Care Models and have processes in place to monitor the effectiveness of the models in relation to the consumer experience and the quality of care.
(d) There are currently eight Midwifery Group Practices operating across WA Health, including four at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, the Community Midwifery Program, Armadale Health Service, Bunbury Hospital and Broome Hospital.
(e) Business cases are being developed for Osborne Park Hospital, Rockingham General Hospital and Albany Health Campus. Timeframes will be dependent on service capability and medical support, however it is anticipated these services will have models in place within the next 12 months.
(f) Any expansion of secondary neo-natal facilities will be dependent on the recommended service delivery models outlined in the business cases referred to in the response to question (2)(e). These will inform capital options to enable WA Health to prepare capital funding proposals for consideration by Government through the annual budget process.
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