WA Parliamentary Question on Notice regarding public speech pathology services for children, including wait times and staffing levels across Perth metropolitan regions from 2016-2019, and current vacancies.

AnsweredQoN 2666Legislative Council
Asked
31 October 2019
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the provision of public speech pathology services to children, and I ask: (a) for each geographical region and for each health service provider in the Perth metropolitan area, what were the mean speech pathology wait times in: (i) 2016; (ii) 2017; (iii) 2018; and (iv) 2019; (b) how many speech pathologists were employed in each geographical region and for each health service provider in the Perth metropolitan area (please provide both head count and FTE) in: (i) 2016; (ii) 2017; (iii) 2018; and (iv) 2019; and (c) how many of the positions in (b)(iv) are currently vacant?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
4 December 2019
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Health
Response time
10 days
I am advised:
(a)
(i) 2016
(ii) 2017
(iii) 2018
(iv) 2019
Community Health South metro (Sou)
4.7 months
4.2 months
4.1 months
6 months
Community Health Central metro (Cen)
4.9 months
4.0 months
3.4 months
3.2 months
Community Health North metro (Nor)
5.5 months
3.3 months
3.6 months
4.1 months
Perth Children’s Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (Hosp.)
·         Inpatient referrals are seen within two working days.
·         Outpatient referrals are triaged and seen within 30 days if urgent.
·         All accepted referrals are seen within 90 days unless they are second opinion referrals already in the care of community service providers. Second opinion referrals are seen within 365 days.
·         These standards have remained consistent across this time period.
JHC
·         Inpatient referrals are seen within 24 hours of referral and this has remained consistent over the period of 2016-19
Peel Health Campus (PHC)
·         An onsite speech pathologist provides services to all inpatients including paediatric patients.
·         Inpatient referrals are seen within 24 hours of referral except for a weekend where there is no speech pathology service. Inpatients admitted over a weekend requiring speech pathology input will be prioritised and seen on a Monday. This has remained consistent over the period 2016-19.
(b) (i)
2016
Nor
Cen
Sou
Hosp.
PHC
FTE
23.4
16.7
32.2
13.2
0.6
HC
28
26
41
21
2
(ii)
2017
Nor
Cen
Sou
Hosp.
PHC
FTE
23.4
16.6
32.3
12.2
1
HC
30
23
45
18
3
(iii)
2018
Nor
Cen
Sou
Hosp.
PHC
FTE
23.9
16.1
32.3
12.2
1
HC
36
23
39
18
4
(iv)
2019
Nor
Cen
Sou
Hosp.
PHC
FTE
25.4
16.2
33.2
12.8
1
HC
34
25
43
18
3
(c)
North
Central
South
Perth Children’s Hospital
PHC
0.7
FTE
0
0
0
0

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