❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Minister for Health regarding the operational status and staffing of the Osborne Park Hospital neonatal unit. The Minister defends the safety and staffing of maternity services, refuting claims of the unit sitting idle.
AnsweredQoN 172Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
OSBORNE PARK HOSPITAL — NEONATAL UNIT
172. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to reports last year that
the $25 million neonatal unit at Osborne Park Hospital had sat idle for three
years due to staffing issues.
(1) Is the Osborne Park neonatal
unit now operational; and, if so, is it operating at full staffing capacity?
(2) Can the
minister confirm whether or not there is always a full-time paediatric doctor,
or paediatrician, working onsite at the neonatal unit, or is it exclusively
staffed by midwives and paediatric nurses?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please. I
agree; that was not a well-written question. I am going to ask the minister to
respond insofar as she can.
172. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to reports last year that
the $25 million neonatal unit at Osborne Park Hospital had sat idle for three
years due to staffing issues.
(1) Is the Osborne Park neonatal
unit now operational; and, if so, is it operating at full staffing capacity?
(2) Can the
minister confirm whether or not there is always a full-time paediatric doctor,
or paediatrician, working onsite at the neonatal unit, or is it exclusively
staffed by midwives and paediatric nurses?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please. I
agree; that was not a well-written question. I am going to ask the minister to
respond insofar as she can.
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) It was an incomprehensible question. I will
attempt to answer it as the minister, which is to say that we run the safest maternity services. Western Australia
runs safe maternity services. The staffing profile of services is
designed to be safe. We have very high standards in Western Australia for
maternity services, including in regional
services. We have well-staffed maternity hospitals. Can I tell the member who
is on what roster at one hospital on any day? No, I cannot, because
those rostering arrangements are done by clinicians, who are experts at doing that. That is their responsibility. Should
politicians interfere in rostering in hospital services? No, they should
not, and I do not intend to do that.
It is not true to say that the
neonatal unit ''sat idle''. It was used and used regularly. The
North Metropolitan Health Service continues to recruit to the role. It has
never sat idle. It has always been in use. It has always been intended to be
shelved for future use as well, but it has never sat idle because there are
babies in there regularly who, when they
need to be transferred, are sent to that unit with the midwife to be
transferred to King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women.
attempt to answer it as the minister, which is to say that we run the safest maternity services. Western Australia
runs safe maternity services. The staffing profile of services is
designed to be safe. We have very high standards in Western Australia for
maternity services, including in regional
services. We have well-staffed maternity hospitals. Can I tell the member who
is on what roster at one hospital on any day? No, I cannot, because
those rostering arrangements are done by clinicians, who are experts at doing that. That is their responsibility. Should
politicians interfere in rostering in hospital services? No, they should
not, and I do not intend to do that.
It is not true to say that the
neonatal unit ''sat idle''. It was used and used regularly. The
North Metropolitan Health Service continues to recruit to the role. It has
never sat idle. It has always been in use. It has always been intended to be
shelved for future use as well, but it has never sat idle because there are
babies in there regularly who, when they
need to be transferred, are sent to that unit with the midwife to be
transferred to King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women.
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