Dr. Honey questions the Minister for Health's refusal to release a Deloitte audit on hospital staffing levels, suggesting the government is hiding the true extent of staffing shortages. The Minister defends the decision, linking the audit to nurse-to-patient ratios and questioning the Liberal Party's stance on the issue.

AnsweredQoN 163Legislative Assembly
Asked
19 March 2024
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

HEALTH — DELOITTE AUDIT
163. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
commitment to release the Deloitte audit into staffing establishment levels in
the Western Australian health system for registered nurses, midwives, enrolled
mental health and enrolled mothercraft nurses that was due in March 2023. Is
the minister's continued refusal to release the Deloitte document
because her government is concerned that it will reveal the true extent of the
state's public hospital staffing levels?

AnswerView source ↗

That audit was subject to
industrial negotiations with the Australian Nursing Federation and was agreed
to as part of the government's commitment to rolling out historic
nurse-to-patient ratios across Western Australia. I am interested to understand
the Liberal Party's position on nurse-to-patient ratios and whether it
supports those ratios. Essentially, the audit was untaken to understand the staffing
profile across the system and how to apply ratios. That audit is complete, and the government's commitment remains.
We continue to work through, and we will be establishing, as required
under the industrial instrument, a steering group to implement nurse-to-patient
ratios across the Western Australian health system.
I do not recall undertaking to make that report public. It
was party to the steering group. That is certainly my understanding; I am happy
to be corrected on that. But we are certainly working through the
implementation and we continue to be committed to implementing ratios.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more