❓ Ms Mettam questions the safety of the Osborne Park Hospital maternity service reconfiguration, citing AMA concerns. The Minister avoids directly answering, highlighting community excitement and overall investment in maternity services.
AnsweredQoN 106Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Osborne Park Hospital—Maternity services
106. Ms Libby Mettam to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Australian
Medical Association's warning that clinicians have repeatedly asked the Department
of Health to identify any comparable maternity service anywhere in Australia or
internationally that operates safely under the proposed Osborne Park Hospital
reconfiguration.
(1) Has the Department
of Health advised the minister that none exists in Australia or
internationally, as the AMA has stated?
(2) Why does the government continue to pursue a
model of care that puts women and babies at risk, given Osborne Park Hospital
has no co-located emergency department and no co-located adult medical or
surgical services?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Member for Vasse! Member for
Vasse, please do not engage across the chamber.
106. Ms Libby Mettam to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Australian
Medical Association's warning that clinicians have repeatedly asked the Department
of Health to identify any comparable maternity service anywhere in Australia or
internationally that operates safely under the proposed Osborne Park Hospital
reconfiguration.
(1) Has the Department
of Health advised the minister that none exists in Australia or
internationally, as the AMA has stated?
(2) Why does the government continue to pursue a
model of care that puts women and babies at risk, given Osborne Park Hospital
has no co-located emergency department and no co-located adult medical or
surgical services?
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Member for Vasse! Member for
Vasse, please do not engage across the chamber.
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the
question. Only last week, I was with the Premier and the Minister for Health
Infrastructure at Osborne Park for the sod turning of what will be a fantastic
redevelopment of that site.
I represent an electorate in the
northern suburbs of Perth. I can tell members that there is great excitement
about the expanded services that will come to Osborne Park Hospital. It has
been a place where people in the northern suburbs have chosen to give birth for
some time. The work that we are doing to expand those services is incredibly
well received in the community I represent and in many other communities in the
northern suburbs. Indeed, this has been our plan generally for maternity
services in Perth. We are building a new women's and babies' hospital at Murdoch.
Again, we were there at the end of last year to start the works, and now we can
see a lot of work happening. I know that people who are in the southern suburbs
are incredibly excited to see those developments take place.
We are incredibly proud of and
excited about the work that we are doing to improve maternity services for the
women of Western Australia. I note that we took this plan to the state election.
Overwhelmingly, that plan has been endorsed by the people of Western Australia,
and that is why we are getting on with delivering the $1.8 billion investment
in women's and babies' services at Osborne Park and at the Murdoch site near Fiona
Stanley Hospital.
We meet and talk regularly with the
AMA about a whole range of issues. I am always very interested to hear its views,
and we work with it because it is an important stakeholder in the system. Of
course, as members would expect, we continue to take advice from the Department
of Health on a whole range of issues, including our Osborne Park redevelopments
and our planning for the delivery of those services. That work is ongoing, but
we are very excited to see the infrastructure that is taking place. I know that
people who I represent—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, please listen to the
answer. Then, you will get to ask a supplementary.
Ms Meredith Hammat: The people who I represent in the
northern suburbs are incredibly excited, as are people all through the southern
suburbs and into the South West. They are incredibly excited to see the new women's
and babies' hospital taking shape.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: They are incredibly excited to see
these new facilities and the services that will support them.
question. Only last week, I was with the Premier and the Minister for Health
Infrastructure at Osborne Park for the sod turning of what will be a fantastic
redevelopment of that site.
I represent an electorate in the
northern suburbs of Perth. I can tell members that there is great excitement
about the expanded services that will come to Osborne Park Hospital. It has
been a place where people in the northern suburbs have chosen to give birth for
some time. The work that we are doing to expand those services is incredibly
well received in the community I represent and in many other communities in the
northern suburbs. Indeed, this has been our plan generally for maternity
services in Perth. We are building a new women's and babies' hospital at Murdoch.
Again, we were there at the end of last year to start the works, and now we can
see a lot of work happening. I know that people who are in the southern suburbs
are incredibly excited to see those developments take place.
We are incredibly proud of and
excited about the work that we are doing to improve maternity services for the
women of Western Australia. I note that we took this plan to the state election.
Overwhelmingly, that plan has been endorsed by the people of Western Australia,
and that is why we are getting on with delivering the $1.8 billion investment
in women's and babies' services at Osborne Park and at the Murdoch site near Fiona
Stanley Hospital.
We meet and talk regularly with the
AMA about a whole range of issues. I am always very interested to hear its views,
and we work with it because it is an important stakeholder in the system. Of
course, as members would expect, we continue to take advice from the Department
of Health on a whole range of issues, including our Osborne Park redevelopments
and our planning for the delivery of those services. That work is ongoing, but
we are very excited to see the infrastructure that is taking place. I know that
people who I represent—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, please listen to the
answer. Then, you will get to ask a supplementary.
Ms Meredith Hammat: The people who I represent in the
northern suburbs are incredibly excited, as are people all through the southern
suburbs and into the South West. They are incredibly excited to see the new women's
and babies' hospital taking shape.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: They are incredibly excited to see
these new facilities and the services that will support them.
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