❓ Mr. Love questions the Minister for Health regarding staff walkouts and code yellow declarations at regional hospitals, citing ignored issues and overworked staff. The Minister acknowledges demand pressures due to a pandemic spike and highlights government investment in beds, staff, and recruitment efforts.
AnsweredQoN 449Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOSPITALS — REGIONS — CODE YELLOW
DECLARATIONS
449. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Health:
I refer to walkouts by staff at Hedland Health Campus, the
first ever code yellow for Albany Health Campus, and reports that Kalgoorlie
Health Campus should be on code yellow because staff cannot find beds for
patients.
(1) Why are
claims being made by workers that issues at these hospitals have been ignored
by management?
(2) What is
the government doing to support those overworked and understaffed regional
hospitals so that the health and safety of patients and staff is not in
constant jeopardy?
DECLARATIONS
449. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Health:
I refer to walkouts by staff at Hedland Health Campus, the
first ever code yellow for Albany Health Campus, and reports that Kalgoorlie
Health Campus should be on code yellow because staff cannot find beds for
patients.
(1) Why are
claims being made by workers that issues at these hospitals have been ignored
by management?
(2) What is
the government doing to support those overworked and understaffed regional
hospitals so that the health and safety of patients and staff is not in
constant jeopardy?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
Thank you very much for the question. Can I just say, member for Moore, at the
risk of sounding like a broken record, that
our hospitals are under significant demand pressures at the moment. This is a result
of a pandemic spike, for want of a better
description, in all our hospital systems, not only in Western Australia
but throughout the country.
However, in Western Australia we
have an opportunity to respond because of the great work done by the McGowan
government to improve the state of the state's finances. In particular,
can I take members through a range of the spending priorities that we have
already announced. That includes a $1.9 billion package as part of our
forthcoming budget. That will see an extra 332 beds, equating to staff of 456 nurses
and 91 doctors. That is already part of our program to continue to expand our
health system to make sure that we get the supply that we need in response to
the demand that we are experiencing.
In particular, we are doing a lot
of work on staffing to make sure that we can improve the access to the workforce that we need in these highly constrained
times. That is why I am very pleased to say that we have already recruited a significant number of nurses
and doctors as part of this recruitment drive. That includes 25 new
emergency department staff in the next fortnight for Sir Charles Gairdner
Hospital, and 14 new midwifery graduates at King Edward Memorial Hospital for
Women. Three new perioperative nurses have started just this week at King
Eddies, and three more will start in the next few weeks. Four overseas midwives
will be starting at King Eddies next month. Of the 173 doctors we are trying to
recruit from overseas, 35 are already in Western Australia, 13 are currently in
quarantine, and we are expecting the remainder over the coming months. A lot of
work is being done to make sure that we continue to improve the situation, not only for our frontline workers,
but also for the patients who go to their hospitals to receive the care
they need.
Part
of the problem that we have is that our healthcare workforce has been working
hard over the 2020–2 1 period in dealing with the anxieties
associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and now in meeting this post-pandemic
demand spike, so they are tired. They are looking to a government that can
provide them with the resources they need so
that they can meet the demand pressures in their workforce. Thank goodness we have a McGowan government that can do just that.
Thank you very much for the question. Can I just say, member for Moore, at the
risk of sounding like a broken record, that
our hospitals are under significant demand pressures at the moment. This is a result
of a pandemic spike, for want of a better
description, in all our hospital systems, not only in Western Australia
but throughout the country.
However, in Western Australia we
have an opportunity to respond because of the great work done by the McGowan
government to improve the state of the state's finances. In particular,
can I take members through a range of the spending priorities that we have
already announced. That includes a $1.9 billion package as part of our
forthcoming budget. That will see an extra 332 beds, equating to staff of 456 nurses
and 91 doctors. That is already part of our program to continue to expand our
health system to make sure that we get the supply that we need in response to
the demand that we are experiencing.
In particular, we are doing a lot
of work on staffing to make sure that we can improve the access to the workforce that we need in these highly constrained
times. That is why I am very pleased to say that we have already recruited a significant number of nurses
and doctors as part of this recruitment drive. That includes 25 new
emergency department staff in the next fortnight for Sir Charles Gairdner
Hospital, and 14 new midwifery graduates at King Edward Memorial Hospital for
Women. Three new perioperative nurses have started just this week at King
Eddies, and three more will start in the next few weeks. Four overseas midwives
will be starting at King Eddies next month. Of the 173 doctors we are trying to
recruit from overseas, 35 are already in Western Australia, 13 are currently in
quarantine, and we are expecting the remainder over the coming months. A lot of
work is being done to make sure that we continue to improve the situation, not only for our frontline workers,
but also for the patients who go to their hospitals to receive the care
they need.
Part
of the problem that we have is that our healthcare workforce has been working
hard over the 2020–2 1 period in dealing with the anxieties
associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and now in meeting this post-pandemic
demand spike, so they are tired. They are looking to a government that can
provide them with the resources they need so
that they can meet the demand pressures in their workforce. Thank goodness we have a McGowan government that can do just that.
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