❓ Debate regarding doctor availability in WA country emergency departments. Cook argues all patients deserve to see a doctor, while Hames defends the current nurse-led model due to doctor shortages and potential harm to local GPs.
AnsweredQoN 538Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOSPITALS — COUNTRY EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS
I have a supplementary question. In a state as rich as ours, if I take my kid to an emergency department — Mr R.F. Johnson : Where’s your question? It’s a supplementary. The SPEAKER : I give the member for Kwinana the opportunity to ask the supplementary. Mr R.H. COOK : Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES
I have a supplementary question. In a state as rich as ours, if I take my kid to an emergency department — Mr R.F. Johnson : Where’s your question? It’s a supplementary. The SPEAKER : I give the member for Kwinana the opportunity to ask the supplementary. Mr R.H. COOK : Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Mr R.F. Johnson : Where’s your question? It’s a supplementary. The SPEAKER : I give the member for Kwinana the opportunity to ask the supplementary. Mr R.H. COOK : Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
The SPEAKER : I give the member for Kwinana the opportunity to ask the supplementary. Mr R.H. COOK : Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Mr R.H. COOK : Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Mr R.F. Johnson : Where’s your question? It’s a supplementary. The SPEAKER : I give the member for Kwinana the opportunity to ask the supplementary. Mr R.H. COOK : Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
The SPEAKER : I give the member for Kwinana the opportunity to ask the supplementary. Mr R.H. COOK : Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Mr R.H. COOK : Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
If I take my kids to an emergency department tomorrow, regardless of where we are, in a state as rich as ours, should they not deserve to see a doctor? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
The member just shows himself to be totally out of touch with not only a health system that works across a state as big as Western Australia, but also a health system that is replicated throughout Australia. It is physically not possible to have a doctor on-site in any of those smaller hospitals. Remember that the commonwealth is responsible for the number of doctors in this country, and we just do not — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES : We do not have enough doctors to do that. If we followed the member for Kwinana’s plan, it would totally destroy country health services. If I suddenly tomorrow put a salaried doctor in Muckinbudin or Bencubbin, for example, or any little country town that has a small hospital, what does the member for Kwinana think would happen to the local doctor who runs a private practice there? People would attend the emergency departments in those country hospitals. The time my father worked in Boddington is a great example. He worked as the single general practitioner in Boddington and saw patients on call for the hospital. Whenever a patient presented to the hospital in Boddington, the nurse who was on duty at that hospital would make an assessment of the patient. The nurse would either treat the patients or send them home. Our nurses are highly qualified and extremely well trained, and, frankly, I think the member is denigrating their capability. Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Mr R.H. Cook : No; that was your job! That’s what you did! Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The nurse would see that patient and call my father to come, if she thought it necessary, to discuss it with him before discharge, or to just treat patients if it was a minor problem and then discharge. If the government had suddenly funded a general practitioner to work in that practice, what do members think would have happened to my father’s practice? He would have had no patients left, because all the patients would have, alternatively, gone to the hospital. Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Mr A.P. O’Gorman interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES : What would the member know about country health? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Two to three patients a day would go to the hospital, so if the private doctor stayed working in that hospital providing GP services for all the patients in that region—say, Boddington—the doctor sitting at the hospital would have had absolutely nothing to do for the whole day other than see two or three patients. It would have been an absolute waste of resources. We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
We have an integrated health model in this state that works exceptionally well. It sees half as many emergency department patients as are seen in the metropolitan area, and it sees them extremely quickly and extremely efficiently, and the patients get an excellent service. If members read the mortality figures for country regions, they will that not only does the WA Country Health Service stack up very well, but also it is one of the best systems in the world.
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