❓ Mrs. Maynard questions the Minister for Health on the Cook Labor government's performance in delivering elective surgeries and initiatives to improve access. The Minister responds with statistics showing improvements in waitlists and surgery numbers, attributing success to government initiatives and healthcare staff.
AnsweredQoN 293Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Health—Elective surgeries293.Mrs Michelle Maynardto the Minister for Health:I refer to the Cook
Labor government's commitment to make Western Australia—Mr Basil Zempilasinterjected.The Speaker:Leader of the Opposition, I call you for
the second time.Mrs Michelle Maynard:I will begin again. I refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to make
Western Australia the healthiest state in the nation.(1) Can the minister update the house on the
government's performance in delivering elective surgery to Western Australians?(2) Can the minister also advise the house what
initiatives the government has implemented to improve elective surgery access?
Labor government's commitment to make Western Australia—Mr Basil Zempilasinterjected.The Speaker:Leader of the Opposition, I call you for
the second time.Mrs Michelle Maynard:I will begin again. I refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to make
Western Australia the healthiest state in the nation.(1) Can the minister update the house on the
government's performance in delivering elective surgery to Western Australians?(2) Can the minister also advise the house what
initiatives the government has implemented to improve elective surgery access?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
12 August 2025
Response time
0 days
Ms Meredith Hammat replied:(1)–(2) I thank the member for her question
and for her interest in this area. It is important in talking about elective
surgery to remember the context. As the member will be aware, during the COVID pandemic,
we had to make tough decisions about keeping Western Australians safe, and that
included having a pause on elective surgeries. That was necessary at the time,
but clearly it did have an impact on waitlists. Since that time, we have seen
incredible elective surgery performance, and I want to acknowledge the work of
our health staff in delivering these outcomes. We have driven initiatives
within health service providers so that they can deliver more elective
surgeries, such as twilight procedures and weekend procedures. We have also
provided further investment so that we can continue to boost the number of
elective surgeries that are being undertaken.The member will be pleased to
know that we have statistics that back in the success of that investment and
those reforms. Compared with April 2022, we have seen a 13.5% reduction in the
elective surgery waitlist. In the same period, we have seen a 17.2% increase in
the number of admitted elective surgery patients. Furthermore, six of the top
10 elective surgery weeks have been achieved over the last 12 months, and that
includes a record month in the week of 22 June, when we performed the highest
number of elective surgeries in a week, with 4,145 surgeries conducted. This is
a testament to the fact that our approach is working. We are getting through
the waitlist. We are bringing those numbers down. We are delivering record
numbers of elective surgeries. I am really proud of the work that we are doing
in this area.
Health—Elective surgeries
and for her interest in this area. It is important in talking about elective
surgery to remember the context. As the member will be aware, during the COVID pandemic,
we had to make tough decisions about keeping Western Australians safe, and that
included having a pause on elective surgeries. That was necessary at the time,
but clearly it did have an impact on waitlists. Since that time, we have seen
incredible elective surgery performance, and I want to acknowledge the work of
our health staff in delivering these outcomes. We have driven initiatives
within health service providers so that they can deliver more elective
surgeries, such as twilight procedures and weekend procedures. We have also
provided further investment so that we can continue to boost the number of
elective surgeries that are being undertaken.The member will be pleased to
know that we have statistics that back in the success of that investment and
those reforms. Compared with April 2022, we have seen a 13.5% reduction in the
elective surgery waitlist. In the same period, we have seen a 17.2% increase in
the number of admitted elective surgery patients. Furthermore, six of the top
10 elective surgery weeks have been achieved over the last 12 months, and that
includes a record month in the week of 22 June, when we performed the highest
number of elective surgeries in a week, with 4,145 surgeries conducted. This is
a testament to the fact that our approach is working. We are getting through
the waitlist. We are bringing those numbers down. We are delivering record
numbers of elective surgeries. I am really proud of the work that we are doing
in this area.
Health—Elective surgeries
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.