❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Minister for Health regarding specialist waitlists, citing a specific case. The Minister acknowledges the case, outlines government investments in healthcare, and addresses gynaecological service delays due to COVID-19.
AnsweredQoN 211Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HEALTH — SPECIALIST ACCESS — WAITLIST
211. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the minister's comment that claims that there is some kind of hidden
waitlist are absolutely and completely wrong. How can the minister
expect Western Australians to have confidence in her ability as Minister for
Health when she refuses to acknowledge the hidden waitlist epidemic that is
crippling so many across our state, such as Shelly French from Rockingham,
whose four-year wait to see a specialist led to a cyst on her right ovary
fusing to her kidneys, bladder and bowels?
211. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the minister's comment that claims that there is some kind of hidden
waitlist are absolutely and completely wrong. How can the minister
expect Western Australians to have confidence in her ability as Minister for
Health when she refuses to acknowledge the hidden waitlist epidemic that is
crippling so many across our state, such as Shelly French from Rockingham,
whose four-year wait to see a specialist led to a cyst on her right ovary
fusing to her kidneys, bladder and bowels?
AnswerView source ↗
I have, of course, read the article
that the member for Vasse is referring to, and those are incredibly challenging
circumstances that that lady has experienced over the last few years.
Certainly, from reading through the article, it appears that she was challenged
in a range of areas in the health system, including by being bounced around by
general practitioners a number of times in order to get a referral to a specialist.
It is incredibly difficult when people experience those sorts of issues.
There are a couple of things to
address the points raised by the Leader of the Liberal Party. This government
is undertaking significant investment and reform around outpatients and
outpatients' referrals, and it is important for people to understand
that GPs are critical to the referral of outpatients to specialist services.
All those referrals are triaged based on clinical need, as we would expect; it
is appropriate that they are based on clinical need. If their circumstances
change, it is important that people go back to their general practitioner so
that their GP can contact the hospital and the specialist to outline how their
circumstances have changed. They can then be re-triaged and reassessed, and
bumped up the list. This government has made an investment of 550 beds in our
health system and an increase in staff.
There have been increases of 4 000 nursing FTE; 1 600 doctor FTE; and 1 700 allied
health FTE . That is a 30 per cent increase in staffing capacity, plus
500 beds, which is actually providing capacity in our system to move many of
those patients forward. I am pleased to say that I understand that her
practitioner had contacted the hospital to say that her circumstances had
changed and they were able to bring that forward.
That means we are performing record
numbers of elective surgeries in our health system at this time this year. Last
year, on a number of occasions, we broke the record for the most elective
surgeries delivered in a single month. In December,
we announced a $40 million uplift to continue and expand this work, and in
February we delivered even more elective procedures per business day
than we ever have in any month in our recorded history.
We continue to receive outpatient
referrals. It is busy; there is no question about that. We are also investing
in how we manage those referrals and communicate with general practitioners,
with an $8 million investment in the outpatient referral system called Smart
Referrals, which was part of the sustainable health review. That will allow
more efficiencies in the system and real-time data for general practitioners to
see where their patients are on the list and
enable them to communicate with those patients and the health service with as
much information as possible.
I want to make a particular point
about gynaecological services. During COVID, a lot of outpatient clinics moved
to virtual care and virtual clinics. Unfortunately, for gynaecological
conditions, patients cannot be seen virtually; they need to see clinicians face
to face. As in every other jurisdiction, a number of those gynaecological
patients have had their outpatient appointments delayed. That has happened
consistently across the nation; it is not unique to Western Australia. However,
since that time, particularly in the south metropolitan area, there has been a number
of programs put in place to try to see more people through the outpatient
program. South Metropolitan Health Service has engaged a locum gynaecologist at
Rockingham General Hospital to work through those waitlists and see more women.
It has also started an innovative new hysteroscopy outpatient clinic, which
means that patients do not need to be seen in theatre and can be seen in a clinic
setting. That has also significantly improved wait times for hysteroscopies,
which means that valuable theatre space can be used for those surgeries.
I am sorry about the circumstances
that this lady has found herself in; they are incredibly challenging. She has
been treated in one of the best health systems in the world, and we continue to
support her on her treatment journey. The government is continuing to invest in
staff, theatre capacity and infrastructure to improve the community's
access to elective surgery waitlists.
that the member for Vasse is referring to, and those are incredibly challenging
circumstances that that lady has experienced over the last few years.
Certainly, from reading through the article, it appears that she was challenged
in a range of areas in the health system, including by being bounced around by
general practitioners a number of times in order to get a referral to a specialist.
It is incredibly difficult when people experience those sorts of issues.
There are a couple of things to
address the points raised by the Leader of the Liberal Party. This government
is undertaking significant investment and reform around outpatients and
outpatients' referrals, and it is important for people to understand
that GPs are critical to the referral of outpatients to specialist services.
All those referrals are triaged based on clinical need, as we would expect; it
is appropriate that they are based on clinical need. If their circumstances
change, it is important that people go back to their general practitioner so
that their GP can contact the hospital and the specialist to outline how their
circumstances have changed. They can then be re-triaged and reassessed, and
bumped up the list. This government has made an investment of 550 beds in our
health system and an increase in staff.
There have been increases of 4 000 nursing FTE; 1 600 doctor FTE; and 1 700 allied
health FTE . That is a 30 per cent increase in staffing capacity, plus
500 beds, which is actually providing capacity in our system to move many of
those patients forward. I am pleased to say that I understand that her
practitioner had contacted the hospital to say that her circumstances had
changed and they were able to bring that forward.
That means we are performing record
numbers of elective surgeries in our health system at this time this year. Last
year, on a number of occasions, we broke the record for the most elective
surgeries delivered in a single month. In December,
we announced a $40 million uplift to continue and expand this work, and in
February we delivered even more elective procedures per business day
than we ever have in any month in our recorded history.
We continue to receive outpatient
referrals. It is busy; there is no question about that. We are also investing
in how we manage those referrals and communicate with general practitioners,
with an $8 million investment in the outpatient referral system called Smart
Referrals, which was part of the sustainable health review. That will allow
more efficiencies in the system and real-time data for general practitioners to
see where their patients are on the list and
enable them to communicate with those patients and the health service with as
much information as possible.
I want to make a particular point
about gynaecological services. During COVID, a lot of outpatient clinics moved
to virtual care and virtual clinics. Unfortunately, for gynaecological
conditions, patients cannot be seen virtually; they need to see clinicians face
to face. As in every other jurisdiction, a number of those gynaecological
patients have had their outpatient appointments delayed. That has happened
consistently across the nation; it is not unique to Western Australia. However,
since that time, particularly in the south metropolitan area, there has been a number
of programs put in place to try to see more people through the outpatient
program. South Metropolitan Health Service has engaged a locum gynaecologist at
Rockingham General Hospital to work through those waitlists and see more women.
It has also started an innovative new hysteroscopy outpatient clinic, which
means that patients do not need to be seen in theatre and can be seen in a clinic
setting. That has also significantly improved wait times for hysteroscopies,
which means that valuable theatre space can be used for those surgeries.
I am sorry about the circumstances
that this lady has found herself in; they are incredibly challenging. She has
been treated in one of the best health systems in the world, and we continue to
support her on her treatment journey. The government is continuing to invest in
staff, theatre capacity and infrastructure to improve the community's
access to elective surgery waitlists.
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