Dr. Woollard asks about the implementation date of an exceptional matters order. Mr. Ripper avoids directly answering, focusing instead on the government's efforts to employ more nurses and criticising the opposition's past actions.

AnsweredQoN 200Legislative Assembly
Asked
26 September 2002
Portfolio
Acting Premier

QuestionView source ↗

As a supplementary question, section 6.1 of the exceptional matters order gives the date of implementation as no later than 1 April 2002. When will the order be implemented? Mr E.S. RIPPER

AnswerView source ↗

It is all about employing additional nurses. That is how the workload for each nurse in our hospitals is reduced - by employing more nurses. The Government has employed an additional 325 nurses. We are running a recruitment campaign to employ more nurses, and I hope the member will support that recruitment campaign. Mr M.F. Board: Why did you allow voluntary redundancy for nurses not only at tertiary hospitals but also at regional hospitals in Western Australia? Mr E.S. RIPPER: The important point is the number of additional nurses. There are an additional 325 nurses in the system. If, on occasion, there was a compassionate reason or an individual management reason that a particular nurse was given redundancy, that does not alter the overall impact of the policy. Maybe the shadow Minister for Health would like to explain to the community why his Government cut 1 000 nurses from the system in the 1990s.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: It is all about employing additional nurses. That is how the workload for each nurse in our hospitals is reduced - by employing more nurses. The Government has employed an additional 325 nurses. We are running a recruitment campaign to employ more nurses, and I hope the member will support that recruitment campaign. Mr M.F. Board: Why did you allow voluntary redundancy for nurses not only at tertiary hospitals but also at regional hospitals in Western Australia? Mr E.S. RIPPER: The important point is the number of additional nurses. There are an additional 325 nurses in the system. If, on occasion, there was a compassionate reason or an individual management reason that a particular nurse was given redundancy, that does not alter the overall impact of the policy. Maybe the shadow Minister for Health would like to explain to the community why his Government cut 1 000 nurses from the system in the 1990s.
It is all about employing additional nurses. That is how the workload for each nurse in our hospitals is reduced - by employing more nurses. The Government has employed an additional 325 nurses. We are running a recruitment campaign to employ more nurses, and I hope the member will support that recruitment campaign. Mr M.F. Board: Why did you allow voluntary redundancy for nurses not only at tertiary hospitals but also at regional hospitals in Western Australia? Mr E.S. RIPPER: The important point is the number of additional nurses. There are an additional 325 nurses in the system. If, on occasion, there was a compassionate reason or an individual management reason that a particular nurse was given redundancy, that does not alter the overall impact of the policy. Maybe the shadow Minister for Health would like to explain to the community why his Government cut 1 000 nurses from the system in the 1990s.
Mr M.F. Board: Why did you allow voluntary redundancy for nurses not only at tertiary hospitals but also at regional hospitals in Western Australia? Mr E.S. RIPPER: The important point is the number of additional nurses. There are an additional 325 nurses in the system. If, on occasion, there was a compassionate reason or an individual management reason that a particular nurse was given redundancy, that does not alter the overall impact of the policy. Maybe the shadow Minister for Health would like to explain to the community why his Government cut 1 000 nurses from the system in the 1990s.
Mr E.S. RIPPER: The important point is the number of additional nurses. There are an additional 325 nurses in the system. If, on occasion, there was a compassionate reason or an individual management reason that a particular nurse was given redundancy, that does not alter the overall impact of the policy. Maybe the shadow Minister for Health would like to explain to the community why his Government cut 1 000 nurses from the system in the 1990s.

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