❓ Opposition questions the Minister for Health regarding poor clinical outcomes and preventable deaths. The Minister defends the government's record, citing increased staffing and investment, and criticizes the politicization of adverse events.
AnsweredQoN 409Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HEALTH SYSTEM
409. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
failure to deliver quality health care that Western Australian patients and
health workers deserve and the never-ending excuses rolled out by her
government, including my favourite from last week about it being rainy.
What excuse is the minister going to
use today for the alarming rise in poor clinical outcomes, including reports of
tragic preventable deaths and parents' concerns being ignored?
409. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
failure to deliver quality health care that Western Australian patients and
health workers deserve and the never-ending excuses rolled out by her
government, including my favourite from last week about it being rainy.
What excuse is the minister going to
use today for the alarming rise in poor clinical outcomes, including reports of
tragic preventable deaths and parents' concerns being ignored?
AnswerView source ↗
That was a question salad from the
Leader of the Liberal Party. I want to address, first of all, her absolutely flippant
remarks around the very comprehensive answer that I gave last week. We were all
here and we all heard it. It was a very comprehensive answer that actually
demonstrated a government that understands health: it understands the challenges of health, it understands the demands
and it understands where the solutions lie. That is what that answer did. To distil it down to a flippant, off-the-cuff, simplistic response really
reflects very poorly on the Leader of the Liberal Party, who is putting her
party and herself forward at the next election as the alternative government
and alternative health minister, I presume.
She is able to digest information in only tiny, little, simple crumbs. That
belies her performance. It is a big and complex health system. The
Leader of the Liberal Party's question was so broad that I do not
really know what she was asking, to be honest, but I will say that this
government has made a record investment in
health care and an investment in the most important part of our health system—staff.
We have invested in a 4 400 increase
in nursing staff over the last three years; 1 700 more doctors over the last
three years; and 1 700 more allied health staff, including
administrative staff who support clinical staff to do the clinical work. We
have reformed the ambulance contract. We are reforming how we deliver emergency
medicine. We are providing better access
closer to communities. We have doubled cancer services in regional centres in
this term of government . We have returned in-house the Liberals'
failed privatisations of Serco and Peel Health Campus. Our record on health is
strong. What I am concerned about is the politicisation of SAC 1 events that
occur in every single health system and
occurred under the previous Liberal government. What we have in Western Australia
is a strong reporting culture. The feedback I get from clinicians is
that they hate the politicisation of those events because it prevents them from
coming forward and being honest and creating a culture of trust and openness in
which we can learn from the events that
happen in health care. Those events will happen when we are supporting a population
of a state of our size. They happen across every single health system in
this country and around the world.
Leader of the Liberal Party. I want to address, first of all, her absolutely flippant
remarks around the very comprehensive answer that I gave last week. We were all
here and we all heard it. It was a very comprehensive answer that actually
demonstrated a government that understands health: it understands the challenges of health, it understands the demands
and it understands where the solutions lie. That is what that answer did. To distil it down to a flippant, off-the-cuff, simplistic response really
reflects very poorly on the Leader of the Liberal Party, who is putting her
party and herself forward at the next election as the alternative government
and alternative health minister, I presume.
She is able to digest information in only tiny, little, simple crumbs. That
belies her performance. It is a big and complex health system. The
Leader of the Liberal Party's question was so broad that I do not
really know what she was asking, to be honest, but I will say that this
government has made a record investment in
health care and an investment in the most important part of our health system—staff.
We have invested in a 4 400 increase
in nursing staff over the last three years; 1 700 more doctors over the last
three years; and 1 700 more allied health staff, including
administrative staff who support clinical staff to do the clinical work. We
have reformed the ambulance contract. We are reforming how we deliver emergency
medicine. We are providing better access
closer to communities. We have doubled cancer services in regional centres in
this term of government . We have returned in-house the Liberals'
failed privatisations of Serco and Peel Health Campus. Our record on health is
strong. What I am concerned about is the politicisation of SAC 1 events that
occur in every single health system and
occurred under the previous Liberal government. What we have in Western Australia
is a strong reporting culture. The feedback I get from clinicians is
that they hate the politicisation of those events because it prevents them from
coming forward and being honest and creating a culture of trust and openness in
which we can learn from the events that
happen in health care. Those events will happen when we are supporting a population
of a state of our size. They happen across every single health system in
this country and around the world.
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