❓ Mr. Jacob inquires about the number of medical interns in WA for 2013 and its implications. The Minister responds positively, highlighting a record number of intern positions and efforts to accommodate both local and international graduates.
AnsweredQoN 587Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOSPITAL
INTERNS
587. Mr A.P. JACOB to the Minister for Health:
As chairman of a board at Joondalup Health Campus and also
somebody whose wife is a clinical nurse, I read with interest news reports of
the number of medical interns at Western Australian hospitals for 2013. Could
the minister please update the house on the number of medical interns in
Western Australia for the coming year and what this means for the future of
medicine in our state?
INTERNS
587. Mr A.P. JACOB to the Minister for Health:
As chairman of a board at Joondalup Health Campus and also
somebody whose wife is a clinical nurse, I read with interest news reports of
the number of medical interns at Western Australian hospitals for 2013. Could
the minister please update the house on the number of medical interns in
Western Australia for the coming year and what this means for the future of
medicine in our state?
AnswerView source ↗
It is an excellent question. I thank the member for the
question and his excellent preamble, even though he is not allowed to do one;
it is obviously very well suited to the member. It is another record that we
have set in the employment of staff, with the number of new intern graduates
coming through medicine. There has been some pressure throughout Australia in
the employment of graduating students. Some of the eastern states in particular
have not had the capacity to employ all the students who graduate. In fact, we
recently had a hook-up with the federal minister and tried to work out the
capacity of different states to employ medical graduates. I am very pleased to
say that Western Australia was able to play a very strong role in that process.
We are employing a record 290 graduates. That is compared with 139 who were
employed in 2005. In just seven years, we have increased the number
significantly. We have 85 graduates who are going to start work in Fremantle,
100 at Sir
Charles Gairdner Hospital and 105 at Royal Perth Hospital.
Another issue is where those graduates come from and who we
are able to employ. At times in the past we have been able to employ all
Western Australian graduates who are born and bred in Western Australia, but
there have not been sufficient places for some of the international medical
students who are fee-paying students to be employed. It is something that I
have not been happy about, and I have ensured, particularly over the last two
years, that those students are provided with places. The reason is that if
those international fee-paying students do not do that first year of
internship, they do not officially qualify as doctors. We have also found that
if a lot of those international students are allowed to do that year of
internship in Western Australia, they often go on to seek permanent employment
in Western Australia, particularly in some of the remote and regional
locations.
The other group of students we have are students born in
Western Australia who graduate from other hospitals in other parts of Australia.
That has been part of the issue in which other states have not been able to
take on all those students. We have been able to accept some of those students
coming back to Western Australia. It has been a significant boost to the number
of doctors in Western Australia.
When those students go to our hospitals, they will see a
system that is functioning extremely well. We have just seen reports comparing
us with other states, and the percentage of patients in Western Australia
treated and/or discharged within four hours is the highest of all the states in
Australia. Despite some criticism of our surgery waitlist from the opposition,
Western Australia is the second best state in terms of the number of days
patients are on the waitlist for surgery. Our health system is functioning
exceptionally well, and I am extremely proud of it.
question and his excellent preamble, even though he is not allowed to do one;
it is obviously very well suited to the member. It is another record that we
have set in the employment of staff, with the number of new intern graduates
coming through medicine. There has been some pressure throughout Australia in
the employment of graduating students. Some of the eastern states in particular
have not had the capacity to employ all the students who graduate. In fact, we
recently had a hook-up with the federal minister and tried to work out the
capacity of different states to employ medical graduates. I am very pleased to
say that Western Australia was able to play a very strong role in that process.
We are employing a record 290 graduates. That is compared with 139 who were
employed in 2005. In just seven years, we have increased the number
significantly. We have 85 graduates who are going to start work in Fremantle,
100 at Sir
Charles Gairdner Hospital and 105 at Royal Perth Hospital.
Another issue is where those graduates come from and who we
are able to employ. At times in the past we have been able to employ all
Western Australian graduates who are born and bred in Western Australia, but
there have not been sufficient places for some of the international medical
students who are fee-paying students to be employed. It is something that I
have not been happy about, and I have ensured, particularly over the last two
years, that those students are provided with places. The reason is that if
those international fee-paying students do not do that first year of
internship, they do not officially qualify as doctors. We have also found that
if a lot of those international students are allowed to do that year of
internship in Western Australia, they often go on to seek permanent employment
in Western Australia, particularly in some of the remote and regional
locations.
The other group of students we have are students born in
Western Australia who graduate from other hospitals in other parts of Australia.
That has been part of the issue in which other states have not been able to
take on all those students. We have been able to accept some of those students
coming back to Western Australia. It has been a significant boost to the number
of doctors in Western Australia.
When those students go to our hospitals, they will see a
system that is functioning extremely well. We have just seen reports comparing
us with other states, and the percentage of patients in Western Australia
treated and/or discharged within four hours is the highest of all the states in
Australia. Despite some criticism of our surgery waitlist from the opposition,
Western Australia is the second best state in terms of the number of days
patients are on the waitlist for surgery. Our health system is functioning
exceptionally well, and I am extremely proud of it.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.