❓ Mr. Taylor asks the Minister for Health to update the house on achievements in the health portfolio. The Minister details significant investments in hospitals and health services across WA, highlighting new facilities, upgrades, and initiatives to improve access to healthcare in regional areas.
AnsweredQoN 443Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HEALTH PORTFOLIO — UPDATE
443. Mr M.H. TAYLOR to the Minister for
Health:
I acknowledge the presence in the
public gallery of the principal, teachers, school chair and students of
Highgate Primary School, in the electorate of the member for Perth.
Can the minister please update the
house on some of the exciting achievements across the health portfolio?
443. Mr M.H. TAYLOR to the Minister for
Health:
I acknowledge the presence in the
public gallery of the principal, teachers, school chair and students of
Highgate Primary School, in the electorate of the member for Perth.
Can the minister please update the
house on some of the exciting achievements across the health portfolio?
AnswerView source ↗
The list is long, because $7 billion
has been invested in our public hospital and health system since the government
came into office almost eight years ago. I will give a few examples. We have
commissioned and completed major new metropolitan hospitals, including the $2 billion
Fiona Stanley Hospital, the first stage of which opened in October 2014; the
$360 million Midland Health Campus, which opened in November last year; and the
$1.2 billion Perth Children's Hospital, which will commence services in
October this year, and is expected to be fully operational by late November. In
the regions, major completed projects include the $170 million Albany health
campus; the $120 million Busselton health campus; and the $60 million
redevelopment of the Kalgoorlie hospital, which was completed in August of last
year. I am pleased to also advise members that the design phase of the $207 million
Karratha health campus is nearing completion and forward works have commenced.
In the next financial year, 2016–17, the delivery of new and
redeveloped hospitals will enable the health system in Western Australia to
provide over 628 000 inpatient episodes of care, 1.1 million treatments in
emergency departments and 2.5 million service events in outpatient clinics and
community settings.
The government's Southern
Inland Health Initiative, otherwise known as SIHI, is ensuring that facilities
are able to be provided closer to where people live, and to meet local
healthcare needs. The SIHI program includes a $300 million capital works
program to improve hospital facilities in 37 towns across the wheatbelt, the
great southern, the midwest and the south west. For example, construction on
upgrades to the Kojonup, Gnowangerup, Tambellup and Wagin health services are
already complete, and others are underway, and there have been substantial
achievements in ensuring that more health services are able to be provided in
areas covered by the Southern Inland Health Initiative, including a 37 per cent
increase in the number of general practitioners available; an increase in the
four-year retention rate of GPs in SIHI towns from 35 per cent to 67 per cent;
and a reduction in the number of clinical incidents in which people need to be
transferred to Perth. The emergency telehealth service that has been developed
provides treatment to critically ill and injured patients in small regional
emergency departments, with the assistance of specialist emergency doctors in
Perth via teleconference. The telehealth service is helping to provide patients
with the specialist care they need closer to home, with high‑quality
vision and sound connections so that consultations can be undertaken remotely.
For example, recent analysis of the patient assisted travel scheme has seen the
proportion of trips to the metropolitan area decrease by 5.3 per cent. To
provide some specific examples of how that has been achieved, south west
radiation oncology metropolitan claims have reduced by 28 per cent, and great
southern medical imaging metropolitan claims are down by 72 per cent.
The list of achievements is
substantial. There is a lot to show for what has been provided by this government
over the last eight years on behalf of the Western Australian community as a result
of the $7 billion investment in capital works and the substantial increase in
recurrent funding for the health budget in Western Australia, both in the
metropolitan area and country parts of Western Australia, so that more and more
people are getting access to treatment closer to home in a very high-quality
manner.
has been invested in our public hospital and health system since the government
came into office almost eight years ago. I will give a few examples. We have
commissioned and completed major new metropolitan hospitals, including the $2 billion
Fiona Stanley Hospital, the first stage of which opened in October 2014; the
$360 million Midland Health Campus, which opened in November last year; and the
$1.2 billion Perth Children's Hospital, which will commence services in
October this year, and is expected to be fully operational by late November. In
the regions, major completed projects include the $170 million Albany health
campus; the $120 million Busselton health campus; and the $60 million
redevelopment of the Kalgoorlie hospital, which was completed in August of last
year. I am pleased to also advise members that the design phase of the $207 million
Karratha health campus is nearing completion and forward works have commenced.
In the next financial year, 2016–17, the delivery of new and
redeveloped hospitals will enable the health system in Western Australia to
provide over 628 000 inpatient episodes of care, 1.1 million treatments in
emergency departments and 2.5 million service events in outpatient clinics and
community settings.
The government's Southern
Inland Health Initiative, otherwise known as SIHI, is ensuring that facilities
are able to be provided closer to where people live, and to meet local
healthcare needs. The SIHI program includes a $300 million capital works
program to improve hospital facilities in 37 towns across the wheatbelt, the
great southern, the midwest and the south west. For example, construction on
upgrades to the Kojonup, Gnowangerup, Tambellup and Wagin health services are
already complete, and others are underway, and there have been substantial
achievements in ensuring that more health services are able to be provided in
areas covered by the Southern Inland Health Initiative, including a 37 per cent
increase in the number of general practitioners available; an increase in the
four-year retention rate of GPs in SIHI towns from 35 per cent to 67 per cent;
and a reduction in the number of clinical incidents in which people need to be
transferred to Perth. The emergency telehealth service that has been developed
provides treatment to critically ill and injured patients in small regional
emergency departments, with the assistance of specialist emergency doctors in
Perth via teleconference. The telehealth service is helping to provide patients
with the specialist care they need closer to home, with high‑quality
vision and sound connections so that consultations can be undertaken remotely.
For example, recent analysis of the patient assisted travel scheme has seen the
proportion of trips to the metropolitan area decrease by 5.3 per cent. To
provide some specific examples of how that has been achieved, south west
radiation oncology metropolitan claims have reduced by 28 per cent, and great
southern medical imaging metropolitan claims are down by 72 per cent.
The list of achievements is
substantial. There is a lot to show for what has been provided by this government
over the last eight years on behalf of the Western Australian community as a result
of the $7 billion investment in capital works and the substantial increase in
recurrent funding for the health budget in Western Australia, both in the
metropolitan area and country parts of Western Australia, so that more and more
people are getting access to treatment closer to home in a very high-quality
manner.
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