❓ Mr Kirkup questions the Minister for Health about ambulance ramping, accusing the government of downplaying the crisis. The Minister defends the government's approach, highlighting a shift to 'transfer of care' measures and improvements in ED performance.
AnsweredQoN 718Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
AMBULANCE RAMPING
718. Mr
Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the record levels of
ambulance ramping across our hospitals, which have occurred under this
government, including at a time when there is basically no flu and no second
wave of COVID. Why are the minister and the Premier being so arrogant and
intentionally trying to downplay the ambulance ramping crisis, which is putting
the lives of Western Australians at risk?
718. Mr
Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the record levels of
ambulance ramping across our hospitals, which have occurred under this
government, including at a time when there is basically no flu and no second
wave of COVID. Why are the minister and the Premier being so arrogant and
intentionally trying to downplay the ambulance ramping crisis, which is putting
the lives of Western Australians at risk?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the member for the question. As I said in my earlier answer to the
question from the member for Mirrabooka , our hospitals are working flat out at the moment to get our elective
surgery numbers up and our waiting times down , and to ensure that we are
getting back as quickly as possible to those people, particularly those who had
to wait during the COVID-19 pandemic response and had their operations
postponed.. As I have reminded the member time and again, there is a move
amongst all health jurisdictions in Australia to move from an ambulance ramping
measure to a transfer of care measure.
Mr D.T. Redman : You railed
hard against us on the ramping issue, when we were sitting over there. It is
just hypocrisy that reigns here.
Mr R.H. COOK : Member, I remember
the previous government's response to ambulance ramping. What was it?
It was, ''I give up!''
Mr D.T. Redman : It is
different now.
The
SPEAKER : It is different now,
ex-minister; I am in the chair. I call you to order for the first and second
times . You did not hear me the first time.
Mr
R.H. COOK : Member, it is
certainly different now; we have a competent government! We remember the
previous government's response to ambulance ramping; it was ''I
give up; I don't know why ambulance ramping is so high!''
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : We took a close
look at ambulance ramping. This is in addition to our policies to introduce
urgent care clinics.
Mr D.T. Redman : If it is not
working, you change the measure.
The SPEAKER : Yes, and I call
you to order for the third time, member for Warren–Blackwood.
Mr R.H. COOK : We introduced
urgent care clinics, which, as I said recently, has allowed over 3 000 patients
to be diverted away from our emergency departments. We have introduced
medihotels —
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup : Behind
time; not on budget.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Dawesville, I like your voice, but not all the time; that is enough. I call you
to order for the first time.
Mr R.H. COOK : We introduced
medihotels, which are operating at Royal Perth Hospital and being constructed as we speak at Fiona Stanley Hospital. We expanded
our EDs. We have a behaviourist assessment urgent care clinic , which we introduced at Royal Perth Hospital and are
currently introducing at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. We are expanding
Peel Health Campus, which the member for Dawesville will be very pleased about
because the former Liberal–National
government did nothing about Peel Health Campus. We are expanding the EDs at
Joondalup Health Campus and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. We are doing
all these things as part of putting patients first. It is true that we have
shifted from ambulance ramping as a focus. We will continue to provide the
avenue for members— even those as
clever as the member for Dawesville—to find those statistics. We are
not hiding from them, but we are focused
on transfer of care. That is what the Australasian College for Emergency
Medicine wants us to focus on and that
is what other Australian jurisdictions are focusing on. We have a transfer of
care median time of about 22 minutes . This means that the median time it
takes us to get a patient out of an ambulance into the care of our EDs is about
22 minutes. This is the best in the country.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
Mr R.H. COOK : The member for
Dawesville hates this stuff.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Dawesville, I call you to order for the second time. You do not ask a question
and answer it; you wait to hear it and then you ask a supplementary.
Mr R.H. COOK : They hate the
success that we are having by focusing on patients. It is true that our EDs are
under pressure. It is true that on Friday, 18 September, St John Ambulance had
a really tough day—a lot of call-outs. It required the chief executive
of St John Ambulance to put a call into the director general and they scrambled
protocols to ensure that all our EDs had executive directors based in them,
ensuring that we could meet the unprecedented demand on that day. That occurred
between 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm and between 5.00 pm and 6.00 pm. We are trying to
get to the bottom of understanding why there was a particular surge that day,
but this is what happens. We need a hospital system that is able to respond to
these demands; can continue to operate at a high level to ensure that we are
treating those people as often as we can, but also making sure we have the
capacity and resilience and the protocols to ensure that we can flex up where
necessary. That is what happened. It was a tough day for everyone, but the
hospital system responded really well.
My concern, obviously, is that we
have ambulances out on the streets, but my priority is to make sure that we get
people out of those ambulances into the care of the EDs as quickly as possible.
We are focused on transfer of care because we are focused on patients. We will
continue to do that and we will continue to see that our hospitals—as I
said, and I will say it time and again—are the best in the country.
Under the four-hour rule, we are the best in the country: better than New South
Wales, Victoria and Queensland. I know they will continue to go on and do well.
That is because we are continuing to fund them, they are committed to the
public health system and they are doing a great job.
thank the member for the question. As I said in my earlier answer to the
question from the member for Mirrabooka , our hospitals are working flat out at the moment to get our elective
surgery numbers up and our waiting times down , and to ensure that we are
getting back as quickly as possible to those people, particularly those who had
to wait during the COVID-19 pandemic response and had their operations
postponed.. As I have reminded the member time and again, there is a move
amongst all health jurisdictions in Australia to move from an ambulance ramping
measure to a transfer of care measure.
Mr D.T. Redman : You railed
hard against us on the ramping issue, when we were sitting over there. It is
just hypocrisy that reigns here.
Mr R.H. COOK : Member, I remember
the previous government's response to ambulance ramping. What was it?
It was, ''I give up!''
Mr D.T. Redman : It is
different now.
The
SPEAKER : It is different now,
ex-minister; I am in the chair. I call you to order for the first and second
times . You did not hear me the first time.
Mr
R.H. COOK : Member, it is
certainly different now; we have a competent government! We remember the
previous government's response to ambulance ramping; it was ''I
give up; I don't know why ambulance ramping is so high!''
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : We took a close
look at ambulance ramping. This is in addition to our policies to introduce
urgent care clinics.
Mr D.T. Redman : If it is not
working, you change the measure.
The SPEAKER : Yes, and I call
you to order for the third time, member for Warren–Blackwood.
Mr R.H. COOK : We introduced
urgent care clinics, which, as I said recently, has allowed over 3 000 patients
to be diverted away from our emergency departments. We have introduced
medihotels —
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup : Behind
time; not on budget.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Dawesville, I like your voice, but not all the time; that is enough. I call you
to order for the first time.
Mr R.H. COOK : We introduced
medihotels, which are operating at Royal Perth Hospital and being constructed as we speak at Fiona Stanley Hospital. We expanded
our EDs. We have a behaviourist assessment urgent care clinic , which we introduced at Royal Perth Hospital and are
currently introducing at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. We are expanding
Peel Health Campus, which the member for Dawesville will be very pleased about
because the former Liberal–National
government did nothing about Peel Health Campus. We are expanding the EDs at
Joondalup Health Campus and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. We are doing
all these things as part of putting patients first. It is true that we have
shifted from ambulance ramping as a focus. We will continue to provide the
avenue for members— even those as
clever as the member for Dawesville—to find those statistics. We are
not hiding from them, but we are focused
on transfer of care. That is what the Australasian College for Emergency
Medicine wants us to focus on and that
is what other Australian jurisdictions are focusing on. We have a transfer of
care median time of about 22 minutes . This means that the median time it
takes us to get a patient out of an ambulance into the care of our EDs is about
22 minutes. This is the best in the country.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
Mr R.H. COOK : The member for
Dawesville hates this stuff.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Dawesville, I call you to order for the second time. You do not ask a question
and answer it; you wait to hear it and then you ask a supplementary.
Mr R.H. COOK : They hate the
success that we are having by focusing on patients. It is true that our EDs are
under pressure. It is true that on Friday, 18 September, St John Ambulance had
a really tough day—a lot of call-outs. It required the chief executive
of St John Ambulance to put a call into the director general and they scrambled
protocols to ensure that all our EDs had executive directors based in them,
ensuring that we could meet the unprecedented demand on that day. That occurred
between 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm and between 5.00 pm and 6.00 pm. We are trying to
get to the bottom of understanding why there was a particular surge that day,
but this is what happens. We need a hospital system that is able to respond to
these demands; can continue to operate at a high level to ensure that we are
treating those people as often as we can, but also making sure we have the
capacity and resilience and the protocols to ensure that we can flex up where
necessary. That is what happened. It was a tough day for everyone, but the
hospital system responded really well.
My concern, obviously, is that we
have ambulances out on the streets, but my priority is to make sure that we get
people out of those ambulances into the care of the EDs as quickly as possible.
We are focused on transfer of care because we are focused on patients. We will
continue to do that and we will continue to see that our hospitals—as I
said, and I will say it time and again—are the best in the country.
Under the four-hour rule, we are the best in the country: better than New South
Wales, Victoria and Queensland. I know they will continue to go on and do well.
That is because we are continuing to fund them, they are committed to the
public health system and they are doing a great job.
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