❓ Ms. Davies questions the Minister for Health on the failure to deliver on the election commitment of urgent care clinics, arguing it hurts regional communities facing emergency department pressures. The Minister deflects by highlighting the strong performance of regional emergency departments.
AnsweredQoN 515Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
URGENT CARE CLINICS
515. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Health:
I
have a supplementary question. At a time when regional emergency departments
are under pressure and struggling to cope with nurse and doctor shortages in
one of the worst flu seasons we have seen in recent history, does the minister
concede that his failure to deliver on this election commitment to date is
hurting our regional communities?
515. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Health:
I
have a supplementary question. At a time when regional emergency departments
are under pressure and struggling to cope with nurse and doctor shortages in
one of the worst flu seasons we have seen in recent history, does the minister
concede that his failure to deliver on this election commitment to date is
hurting our regional communities?
AnswerView source ↗
I
take on good faith the member's genuine concern about the health of
people in our community. I draw her attention to the work that we are doing in
some of our emergency departments across the WA Country Health Service, which
are doing an outstanding job. For instance, I draw the member's
attention to the Busselton Health Campus emergency department, which has a four-hour
rule performance of 86.9 per cent. It is performing extremely well.
Ms M.J. Davies : With respect,
that is not the question. The question was in relation to a commitment you
made.
Mr R.H.
COOK : In relation to the member's own electorate, that
emergency department is performing at a level of 87.2 per cent, which means
that 87.2 per cent of all patients who go into the Northam Health Service's
ED are treated, discharged or admitted within four hours. That is a fantastic
performance. It shows that those EDs are performing at a very high level. Yes,
the staff in these hospitals work hard, but it is not fair to characterise
their performance as being under pressure; they are actually exceeding a lot of
the performance of our metropolitan hospitals.
Naturally, we are concerned about the performance of the metropolitan
hospitals, particularly Royal Perth Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital,
but the member draws the chamber's attention to a very important issue—that
is, doing what is right for the patients of Western Australia. That is why the
McGowan government is focused on putting patients first by making sure that we
have urgent care clinics and a network that extends the reach of primary health
care in the state and ensures that all patients get the care they need, when
they need it, in the community in which they live.
take on good faith the member's genuine concern about the health of
people in our community. I draw her attention to the work that we are doing in
some of our emergency departments across the WA Country Health Service, which
are doing an outstanding job. For instance, I draw the member's
attention to the Busselton Health Campus emergency department, which has a four-hour
rule performance of 86.9 per cent. It is performing extremely well.
Ms M.J. Davies : With respect,
that is not the question. The question was in relation to a commitment you
made.
Mr R.H.
COOK : In relation to the member's own electorate, that
emergency department is performing at a level of 87.2 per cent, which means
that 87.2 per cent of all patients who go into the Northam Health Service's
ED are treated, discharged or admitted within four hours. That is a fantastic
performance. It shows that those EDs are performing at a very high level. Yes,
the staff in these hospitals work hard, but it is not fair to characterise
their performance as being under pressure; they are actually exceeding a lot of
the performance of our metropolitan hospitals.
Naturally, we are concerned about the performance of the metropolitan
hospitals, particularly Royal Perth Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital,
but the member draws the chamber's attention to a very important issue—that
is, doing what is right for the patients of Western Australia. That is why the
McGowan government is focused on putting patients first by making sure that we
have urgent care clinics and a network that extends the reach of primary health
care in the state and ensures that all patients get the care they need, when
they need it, in the community in which they live.
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