In July 2007, there were 134 more hospital beds available compared to July of the previous year, including 70 beds at Mertome Village. The Minister acknowledges workforce shortages as a key challenge in staffing these beds.

AnsweredQoN 405Legislative Assembly
Asked
29 August 2007
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

HOSPITAL BEDS AVAILABILITY
I have a supplementary question. Does the minister know how many extra beds were available in July this year compared with the number of beds that were open for the winter strategy in July last year? Mr J.A. McGINTY

AnswerView source ↗

Yes, 134, if we include the 70 beds at the Mertome Village, which are not public hospital beds but which have been acquired to put public hospital patients into them. Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes. They are the additional beds that we are opening to try to meet the massive demand that we are dealing with. I will say also very briefly that the other great problem that we are grappling with, as people generally are in other areas, is workforce issues. I am sure the member would appreciate that the availability of staff is a problem. It is not a question of money; it is not a question of beds. It is actually a question of having the staff to be able to staff those beds that is the critical issue. At the moment, partly because winter affects everybody, including hospital staff, if we could recruit more staff, we would employ them to open more beds. We are doing everything we can on that front at the moment.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: Yes, 134, if we include the 70 beds at the Mertome Village, which are not public hospital beds but which have been acquired to put public hospital patients into them. Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes. They are the additional beds that we are opening to try to meet the massive demand that we are dealing with. I will say also very briefly that the other great problem that we are grappling with, as people generally are in other areas, is workforce issues. I am sure the member would appreciate that the availability of staff is a problem. It is not a question of money; it is not a question of beds. It is actually a question of having the staff to be able to staff those beds that is the critical issue. At the moment, partly because winter affects everybody, including hospital staff, if we could recruit more staff, we would employ them to open more beds. We are doing everything we can on that front at the moment.
Yes, 134, if we include the 70 beds at the Mertome Village, which are not public hospital beds but which have been acquired to put public hospital patients into them. Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes. They are the additional beds that we are opening to try to meet the massive demand that we are dealing with. I will say also very briefly that the other great problem that we are grappling with, as people generally are in other areas, is workforce issues. I am sure the member would appreciate that the availability of staff is a problem. It is not a question of money; it is not a question of beds. It is actually a question of having the staff to be able to staff those beds that is the critical issue. At the moment, partly because winter affects everybody, including hospital staff, if we could recruit more staff, we would employ them to open more beds. We are doing everything we can on that front at the moment.
Dr K.D. Hames interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes. They are the additional beds that we are opening to try to meet the massive demand that we are dealing with. I will say also very briefly that the other great problem that we are grappling with, as people generally are in other areas, is workforce issues. I am sure the member would appreciate that the availability of staff is a problem. It is not a question of money; it is not a question of beds. It is actually a question of having the staff to be able to staff those beds that is the critical issue. At the moment, partly because winter affects everybody, including hospital staff, if we could recruit more staff, we would employ them to open more beds. We are doing everything we can on that front at the moment.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : Yes. They are the additional beds that we are opening to try to meet the massive demand that we are dealing with. I will say also very briefly that the other great problem that we are grappling with, as people generally are in other areas, is workforce issues. I am sure the member would appreciate that the availability of staff is a problem. It is not a question of money; it is not a question of beds. It is actually a question of having the staff to be able to staff those beds that is the critical issue. At the moment, partly because winter affects everybody, including hospital staff, if we could recruit more staff, we would employ them to open more beds. We are doing everything we can on that front at the moment.

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