❓ Opposition questions Health Minister about alleged manipulation of the four-hour rule in emergency departments. Minister denies manipulation, defends current practices as improvements over the previous government, and blames increased demand.
AnsweredQoN 381Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS — FOUR-HOUR RULE
I refer to the emergency department four-hour rule policy and to orderlies who have today revealed that on numerous occasions they have been asked to wheel patients out of emergency departments and then back in again to start the four-hour clock or have been involved in bed shifting to avoid four-hour rule penalties. (1) When was the minister first advised that WA hospitals were cutting corners in conforming to the four-hour rule? (2) What action will the minister undertake to bring these tactics to an immediate halt? Dr K.D. HAMES
I refer to the emergency department four-hour rule policy and to orderlies who have today revealed that on numerous occasions they have been asked to wheel patients out of emergency departments and then back in again to start the four-hour clock or have been involved in bed shifting to avoid four-hour rule penalties. (1) When was the minister first advised that WA hospitals were cutting corners in conforming to the four-hour rule? (2) What action will the minister undertake to bring these tactics to an immediate halt? Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The action that has been taken in our emergency departments to address the debacle that existed under the former government, whereby up to 50 per cent of patients waited in corridors for access to a bed in the hospital, has resulted in an enormous change in the way our hospitals operate. We have had a massive improvement. The staff at all our hospitals who are working in the emergency departments will be extremely disappointed by the comments of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that resulted in the article in yesterday’s paper and his further comments today. Those staff are out there working their tails off trying to cope with an eight per cent to nine per cent increase in demand coming through their doors. It is a massive increase in demand that is putting an enormous pressure on our hospitals. Despite this, they are able to maintain a level of service to patients far in excess of that which existed under the former government. Extra patients going to hospital wards is not a new thing. It occurred under the previous government. When I asked how many beds there were, for example, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the response that came back to me was, “It depends on how busy we are on the day.” That is because while the hospital had an official allocation of a certain number of funded beds through the budget process, depending on demand, it would have up to 20 or 30 additional beds that it would put in the wards. That was done for exactly the same reason that we do it: when there is huge demand in the ED and it is safe to move a patient to a ward, that is what occurs. That transfer of patients to the ward in excess of quota occurs only when there is a code red or black. It used to be code yellow. That happens when the ED is under enormous pressure with patients coming through the door. My advice is that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the hospital to which this issue refers, has had a maximum of eight extra patients in the wards. Mr R.H. Cook : No, it wasn’t Charlies. Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
(1) When was the minister first advised that WA hospitals were cutting corners in conforming to the four-hour rule? (2) What action will the minister undertake to bring these tactics to an immediate halt? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(2) The action that has been taken in our emergency departments to address the debacle that existed under the former government, whereby up to 50 per cent of patients waited in corridors for access to a bed in the hospital, has resulted in an enormous change in the way our hospitals operate. We have had a massive improvement. The staff at all our hospitals who are working in the emergency departments will be extremely disappointed by the comments of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that resulted in the article in yesterday’s paper and his further comments today. Those staff are out there working their tails off trying to cope with an eight per cent to nine per cent increase in demand coming through their doors. It is a massive increase in demand that is putting an enormous pressure on our hospitals. Despite this, they are able to maintain a level of service to patients far in excess of that which existed under the former government. Extra patients going to hospital wards is not a new thing. It occurred under the previous government. When I asked how many beds there were, for example, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the response that came back to me was, “It depends on how busy we are on the day.” That is because while the hospital had an official allocation of a certain number of funded beds through the budget process, depending on demand, it would have up to 20 or 30 additional beds that it would put in the wards. That was done for exactly the same reason that we do it: when there is huge demand in the ED and it is safe to move a patient to a ward, that is what occurs. That transfer of patients to the ward in excess of quota occurs only when there is a code red or black. It used to be code yellow. That happens when the ED is under enormous pressure with patients coming through the door. My advice is that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the hospital to which this issue refers, has had a maximum of eight extra patients in the wards. Mr R.H. Cook : No, it wasn’t Charlies. Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
(2) What action will the minister undertake to bring these tactics to an immediate halt? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(2) The action that has been taken in our emergency departments to address the debacle that existed under the former government, whereby up to 50 per cent of patients waited in corridors for access to a bed in the hospital, has resulted in an enormous change in the way our hospitals operate. We have had a massive improvement. The staff at all our hospitals who are working in the emergency departments will be extremely disappointed by the comments of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that resulted in the article in yesterday’s paper and his further comments today. Those staff are out there working their tails off trying to cope with an eight per cent to nine per cent increase in demand coming through their doors. It is a massive increase in demand that is putting an enormous pressure on our hospitals. Despite this, they are able to maintain a level of service to patients far in excess of that which existed under the former government. Extra patients going to hospital wards is not a new thing. It occurred under the previous government. When I asked how many beds there were, for example, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the response that came back to me was, “It depends on how busy we are on the day.” That is because while the hospital had an official allocation of a certain number of funded beds through the budget process, depending on demand, it would have up to 20 or 30 additional beds that it would put in the wards. That was done for exactly the same reason that we do it: when there is huge demand in the ED and it is safe to move a patient to a ward, that is what occurs. That transfer of patients to the ward in excess of quota occurs only when there is a code red or black. It used to be code yellow. That happens when the ED is under enormous pressure with patients coming through the door. My advice is that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the hospital to which this issue refers, has had a maximum of eight extra patients in the wards. Mr R.H. Cook : No, it wasn’t Charlies. Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(2) The action that has been taken in our emergency departments to address the debacle that existed under the former government, whereby up to 50 per cent of patients waited in corridors for access to a bed in the hospital, has resulted in an enormous change in the way our hospitals operate. We have had a massive improvement. The staff at all our hospitals who are working in the emergency departments will be extremely disappointed by the comments of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that resulted in the article in yesterday’s paper and his further comments today. Those staff are out there working their tails off trying to cope with an eight per cent to nine per cent increase in demand coming through their doors. It is a massive increase in demand that is putting an enormous pressure on our hospitals. Despite this, they are able to maintain a level of service to patients far in excess of that which existed under the former government. Extra patients going to hospital wards is not a new thing. It occurred under the previous government. When I asked how many beds there were, for example, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the response that came back to me was, “It depends on how busy we are on the day.” That is because while the hospital had an official allocation of a certain number of funded beds through the budget process, depending on demand, it would have up to 20 or 30 additional beds that it would put in the wards. That was done for exactly the same reason that we do it: when there is huge demand in the ED and it is safe to move a patient to a ward, that is what occurs. That transfer of patients to the ward in excess of quota occurs only when there is a code red or black. It used to be code yellow. That happens when the ED is under enormous pressure with patients coming through the door. My advice is that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the hospital to which this issue refers, has had a maximum of eight extra patients in the wards. Mr R.H. Cook : No, it wasn’t Charlies. Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
(1)–(2) The action that has been taken in our emergency departments to address the debacle that existed under the former government, whereby up to 50 per cent of patients waited in corridors for access to a bed in the hospital, has resulted in an enormous change in the way our hospitals operate. We have had a massive improvement. The staff at all our hospitals who are working in the emergency departments will be extremely disappointed by the comments of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that resulted in the article in yesterday’s paper and his further comments today. Those staff are out there working their tails off trying to cope with an eight per cent to nine per cent increase in demand coming through their doors. It is a massive increase in demand that is putting an enormous pressure on our hospitals. Despite this, they are able to maintain a level of service to patients far in excess of that which existed under the former government. Extra patients going to hospital wards is not a new thing. It occurred under the previous government. When I asked how many beds there were, for example, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the response that came back to me was, “It depends on how busy we are on the day.” That is because while the hospital had an official allocation of a certain number of funded beds through the budget process, depending on demand, it would have up to 20 or 30 additional beds that it would put in the wards. That was done for exactly the same reason that we do it: when there is huge demand in the ED and it is safe to move a patient to a ward, that is what occurs. That transfer of patients to the ward in excess of quota occurs only when there is a code red or black. It used to be code yellow. That happens when the ED is under enormous pressure with patients coming through the door. My advice is that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the hospital to which this issue refers, has had a maximum of eight extra patients in the wards. Mr R.H. Cook : No, it wasn’t Charlies. Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
(1) When was the minister first advised that WA hospitals were cutting corners in conforming to the four-hour rule? (2) What action will the minister undertake to bring these tactics to an immediate halt? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(2) The action that has been taken in our emergency departments to address the debacle that existed under the former government, whereby up to 50 per cent of patients waited in corridors for access to a bed in the hospital, has resulted in an enormous change in the way our hospitals operate. We have had a massive improvement. The staff at all our hospitals who are working in the emergency departments will be extremely disappointed by the comments of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that resulted in the article in yesterday’s paper and his further comments today. Those staff are out there working their tails off trying to cope with an eight per cent to nine per cent increase in demand coming through their doors. It is a massive increase in demand that is putting an enormous pressure on our hospitals. Despite this, they are able to maintain a level of service to patients far in excess of that which existed under the former government. Extra patients going to hospital wards is not a new thing. It occurred under the previous government. When I asked how many beds there were, for example, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the response that came back to me was, “It depends on how busy we are on the day.” That is because while the hospital had an official allocation of a certain number of funded beds through the budget process, depending on demand, it would have up to 20 or 30 additional beds that it would put in the wards. That was done for exactly the same reason that we do it: when there is huge demand in the ED and it is safe to move a patient to a ward, that is what occurs. That transfer of patients to the ward in excess of quota occurs only when there is a code red or black. It used to be code yellow. That happens when the ED is under enormous pressure with patients coming through the door. My advice is that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the hospital to which this issue refers, has had a maximum of eight extra patients in the wards. Mr R.H. Cook : No, it wasn’t Charlies. Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
(2) What action will the minister undertake to bring these tactics to an immediate halt? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(2) The action that has been taken in our emergency departments to address the debacle that existed under the former government, whereby up to 50 per cent of patients waited in corridors for access to a bed in the hospital, has resulted in an enormous change in the way our hospitals operate. We have had a massive improvement. The staff at all our hospitals who are working in the emergency departments will be extremely disappointed by the comments of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that resulted in the article in yesterday’s paper and his further comments today. Those staff are out there working their tails off trying to cope with an eight per cent to nine per cent increase in demand coming through their doors. It is a massive increase in demand that is putting an enormous pressure on our hospitals. Despite this, they are able to maintain a level of service to patients far in excess of that which existed under the former government. Extra patients going to hospital wards is not a new thing. It occurred under the previous government. When I asked how many beds there were, for example, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the response that came back to me was, “It depends on how busy we are on the day.” That is because while the hospital had an official allocation of a certain number of funded beds through the budget process, depending on demand, it would have up to 20 or 30 additional beds that it would put in the wards. That was done for exactly the same reason that we do it: when there is huge demand in the ED and it is safe to move a patient to a ward, that is what occurs. That transfer of patients to the ward in excess of quota occurs only when there is a code red or black. It used to be code yellow. That happens when the ED is under enormous pressure with patients coming through the door. My advice is that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the hospital to which this issue refers, has had a maximum of eight extra patients in the wards. Mr R.H. Cook : No, it wasn’t Charlies. Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(2) The action that has been taken in our emergency departments to address the debacle that existed under the former government, whereby up to 50 per cent of patients waited in corridors for access to a bed in the hospital, has resulted in an enormous change in the way our hospitals operate. We have had a massive improvement. The staff at all our hospitals who are working in the emergency departments will be extremely disappointed by the comments of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that resulted in the article in yesterday’s paper and his further comments today. Those staff are out there working their tails off trying to cope with an eight per cent to nine per cent increase in demand coming through their doors. It is a massive increase in demand that is putting an enormous pressure on our hospitals. Despite this, they are able to maintain a level of service to patients far in excess of that which existed under the former government. Extra patients going to hospital wards is not a new thing. It occurred under the previous government. When I asked how many beds there were, for example, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the response that came back to me was, “It depends on how busy we are on the day.” That is because while the hospital had an official allocation of a certain number of funded beds through the budget process, depending on demand, it would have up to 20 or 30 additional beds that it would put in the wards. That was done for exactly the same reason that we do it: when there is huge demand in the ED and it is safe to move a patient to a ward, that is what occurs. That transfer of patients to the ward in excess of quota occurs only when there is a code red or black. It used to be code yellow. That happens when the ED is under enormous pressure with patients coming through the door. My advice is that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the hospital to which this issue refers, has had a maximum of eight extra patients in the wards. Mr R.H. Cook : No, it wasn’t Charlies. Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
(1)–(2) The action that has been taken in our emergency departments to address the debacle that existed under the former government, whereby up to 50 per cent of patients waited in corridors for access to a bed in the hospital, has resulted in an enormous change in the way our hospitals operate. We have had a massive improvement. The staff at all our hospitals who are working in the emergency departments will be extremely disappointed by the comments of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that resulted in the article in yesterday’s paper and his further comments today. Those staff are out there working their tails off trying to cope with an eight per cent to nine per cent increase in demand coming through their doors. It is a massive increase in demand that is putting an enormous pressure on our hospitals. Despite this, they are able to maintain a level of service to patients far in excess of that which existed under the former government. Extra patients going to hospital wards is not a new thing. It occurred under the previous government. When I asked how many beds there were, for example, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the response that came back to me was, “It depends on how busy we are on the day.” That is because while the hospital had an official allocation of a certain number of funded beds through the budget process, depending on demand, it would have up to 20 or 30 additional beds that it would put in the wards. That was done for exactly the same reason that we do it: when there is huge demand in the ED and it is safe to move a patient to a ward, that is what occurs. That transfer of patients to the ward in excess of quota occurs only when there is a code red or black. It used to be code yellow. That happens when the ED is under enormous pressure with patients coming through the door. My advice is that Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the hospital to which this issue refers, has had a maximum of eight extra patients in the wards. Mr R.H. Cook : No, it wasn’t Charlies. Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
Dr K.D. HAMES : That was the bit that was in the paper. It had a maximum of eight patients extra in those wards at any one time. Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
Under our system, instead of patients who have come in, been seen and been assessed as requiring admission sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed, as 50 per cent of them often did under the previous government’s watch, if there is capacity, if it is safe to do so and if the problem of the particular patient has been assessed as not severe, each ward can take an extra patient—up to eight throughout the hospital. Therefore, in a 500 plus–bed hospital, an additional eight people might move to the wards. Sure, sometimes they are double handled. Instead of a patient sitting in a corridor waiting for a bed and having to be taken from there to get their X-ray, they will go to a ward, where they are looked after, and then that patient can be taken back. Sure, that requires a bit of extra work from the orderlies. I do not know what has happened at the other hospitals, but I do know that Fremantle Hospital, for example, has put on extra orderlies to help cope with that extra load. As would be expected, if there is extra work to be done, extra staff are put on to do it. That does not mean that that poor patient should be left sitting in a corridor for eight hours, desperate for a bed, as happened under the previous government’s system.
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