❓ The Minister for Health provides an update on the WA government's support for Western Australians experiencing COVID-19, including details about the new long COVID clinic trial at Bentley Health Service and the winding down of the WA COVID Care at Home program.
AnsweredQoN 776Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS
— LONG COVID CLINIC
776. Ms H.M. BEAZLEY to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the McGowan Labor government's record investment in our health
system and world-class response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Can the
minister update the house on the support this government has provided to Western
Australians experiencing COVID-19, including the new long COVID clinic?
— LONG COVID CLINIC
776. Ms H.M. BEAZLEY to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the McGowan Labor government's record investment in our health
system and world-class response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Can the
minister update the house on the support this government has provided to Western
Australians experiencing COVID-19, including the new long COVID clinic?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Victoria Park
for her question.
It has been a priority of the
McGowan Labor government to support Western Australians through the challenges of the COVID pandemic and to put Health front and
foremost in our response to that pandemic. Most notable is the WA COVID
Care at Home program that was set up on 31 January 2022 to provide home
monitoring care for COVID-positive people deemed at greater risk of serious
illness due to medical and social risk factors and to mitigate against
unnecessary hospital presentations of COVID-positive people. The program has
successfully monitored over 17 000 eligible Western
Australians, which has significantly minimised admissions to hospital, with less than four per cent of those patients requiring escalation to hospital. The
program is finishing, given that it was developed
with Delta in mind and WA now has stronger protection from serious infection
from COVID-19. We have some of the highest vaccination levels in the
world, there has been significant prior infection in the community, access to
antivirals is much improved under the current federal government, and there is
better medical and public understanding of
how to manage COVID. This is reflected in the recent ending of WA's
state-of-emergency powers . COVID-19 has transitioned to
business-as-usual supports and care pathways. This is consistent with our
transition to managing COVID through sustainable public health measures,
vaccination and targeted testing processes.
I can also inform the house of a new
trial for a long COVID clinic that was opened by the East Metropolitan Health
Service on 30 October this year for people experiencing long COVID symptoms.
The trial, which is being led by a senior
physiotherapist, is located at Bentley Health Service and is available by GP
referral to patients living within the East Metropolitan Health Service
catchment who meet the referral criteria. The trial is for people over the age
of 16 years who are at least 12 weeks post-COVID diagnosis and experiencing
significant ongoing but non-urgent symptoms,
and have objective physical findings that have failed to resolve with primary
care and cannot be attributed to any other obvious cause. The clinic
will offer patients further assessment and management of those symptoms. We
will continue to monitor long COVID in the community. Other clinics may be
established if there is a need and should the trial prove successful.
for her question.
It has been a priority of the
McGowan Labor government to support Western Australians through the challenges of the COVID pandemic and to put Health front and
foremost in our response to that pandemic. Most notable is the WA COVID
Care at Home program that was set up on 31 January 2022 to provide home
monitoring care for COVID-positive people deemed at greater risk of serious
illness due to medical and social risk factors and to mitigate against
unnecessary hospital presentations of COVID-positive people. The program has
successfully monitored over 17 000 eligible Western
Australians, which has significantly minimised admissions to hospital, with less than four per cent of those patients requiring escalation to hospital. The
program is finishing, given that it was developed
with Delta in mind and WA now has stronger protection from serious infection
from COVID-19. We have some of the highest vaccination levels in the
world, there has been significant prior infection in the community, access to
antivirals is much improved under the current federal government, and there is
better medical and public understanding of
how to manage COVID. This is reflected in the recent ending of WA's
state-of-emergency powers . COVID-19 has transitioned to
business-as-usual supports and care pathways. This is consistent with our
transition to managing COVID through sustainable public health measures,
vaccination and targeted testing processes.
I can also inform the house of a new
trial for a long COVID clinic that was opened by the East Metropolitan Health
Service on 30 October this year for people experiencing long COVID symptoms.
The trial, which is being led by a senior
physiotherapist, is located at Bentley Health Service and is available by GP
referral to patients living within the East Metropolitan Health Service
catchment who meet the referral criteria. The trial is for people over the age
of 16 years who are at least 12 weeks post-COVID diagnosis and experiencing
significant ongoing but non-urgent symptoms,
and have objective physical findings that have failed to resolve with primary
care and cannot be attributed to any other obvious cause. The clinic
will offer patients further assessment and management of those symptoms. We
will continue to monitor long COVID in the community. Other clinics may be
established if there is a need and should the trial prove successful.
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