❓ Mr. Love asks about the Southern Inland Health Initiative's progress. The Minister details GP recruitment, infrastructure upgrades, and telehealth advancements, contrasting it with the previous Labor government's approach.
AnsweredQoN 95Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SOUTHERN INLAND HEALTH INITIATIVE
95. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Regional Development:
Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Regional
Development. Minister —
Mr P. Papalia interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Warnbro, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr R.S. LOVE : I
understand the government's $565 million Southern Inland Health
Initiative is heavily investing in both the health infrastructure and
attracting and retaining health professionals across the southern half of the
state. Can the minister please update the house on its progress?
95. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Regional Development:
Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Regional
Development. Minister —
Mr P. Papalia interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Warnbro, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr R.S. LOVE : I
understand the government's $565 million Southern Inland Health
Initiative is heavily investing in both the health infrastructure and
attracting and retaining health professionals across the southern half of the
state. Can the minister please update the house on its progress?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Moore for the
question, his first question in Parliament. Congratulations on winning the seat
in the Legislative Assembly.
Yes, the Southern Inland Health
Initiative has been a very important program for the Liberal–National
government. At the end of April, 24 GPs had been signed up across the region as
part of this initiative. The latest recruits to have signed are doctors located
in Toodyay, in the member for Moore's electorate, and in Narrogin, in
the member for Wagin's electorate. The southern inland catchment area
stretches from Kalbarri and Meekatharra in the north to Laverton in the east,
down to Esperance in the south. So far, doctors have been signed up in
Corrigin, Northam, Moora, Wagin, Lake Grace, Kalbarri, Merredin, Collie,
Esperance, Mt Magnet, Narrogin, Dongara, Boddington, Kondinin, Kununoppin and
Katanning. There are 19 candidates progressing through their initial assessment
and, in the coming weeks, three new recruits are due to start practising in
Northam, Yilgarn and Wyalkatchem. That will take the number of new GPs we have
attracted to this region to 27.
This has to be contrasted to the
time when the Labor Party held the treasury bench, when people could not get a
doctor's appointment in regional Western Australia. Not only could they
not get a doctor's appointment, the plan put forward by then Minister
Bob Kucera and, subsequently, Minister Jim McGinty, was that if people could
not get a doctor's appointment the solution was to shut the hospital.
If towns could not attract doctors, the plan was to hollow out the whole health
system in the southern half of regional WA. I am happy to say, as part of the
Liberal–National government, that we have done the exact opposite. We
have put in place a plan to attract doctors. As well as that, we have put in
place a plan to rebuild —
Mr
P.B. Watson : How about putting a few in Albany.
Mr
B.J. GRYLLS : I am happy to talk about Albany health. I think a $170 million
brand-new hospital has been opened in the member for Albany's
electorate, so I would have thought our record was pretty good. The member for
Albany should have asked me the question!
Mr
P.B. Watson interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Albany!
Mr
P.B. Watson : He's talking to me.
The
SPEAKER : You started it; stop it.
Mr
B.J. GRYLLS : These doctors have been targeted through a very substantial
recruitment program. We are getting a lot of interest from doctors in the
United Kingdom who are interested in coming to WA to live and work in our
regional communities under the Southern Inland Health Initiative. Importantly,
more than that, we are investing in the infrastructure of health in these
regional communities. Major upgrades are planned for the hospitals in Collie,
Katanning, Narrogin, Manjimup, Merredin and Northam. They are all set for major
upgrades. Enabling works for 36 sites are underway to ensure that the program
can progress. That is part of a $325 million investment into the southern
inland health infrastructure system. Given what is happening in Albany and
Busselton and across the metropolitan health network in attracting and
retaining doctors, Western Australia is going through a revolution in health
delivery.
The final thing I will talk about is
telehealth. The telehealth program is making an amazing difference to the
ability of country communities to link our best emergency doctors to country
hospitals so that when a patient turns up at hospital they can get some of the
best expert care. There are now 24 sites connected to emergency telehealth, and
Kununoppin, in the seat of the member for Central Wheatbelt, has been the
latest site to come online and link the doctors and nurses in those regional
hospitals to our best medical experts here in Perth. Already through the
telehealth program there have been more than 1 900 consults since August last
year. Nineteen hundred separate patients have got the best expert advice from
the doctors in the metropolitan area out to regional hospitals. We have brought
doctors to the regional communities; we are investing in building hospitals and
using the latest technology to bring up-to-date, world-class health to regional
communities. It is the Southern Inland Health Initiative, and it is what the
Liberal–National government means to country Western Australia.
question, his first question in Parliament. Congratulations on winning the seat
in the Legislative Assembly.
Yes, the Southern Inland Health
Initiative has been a very important program for the Liberal–National
government. At the end of April, 24 GPs had been signed up across the region as
part of this initiative. The latest recruits to have signed are doctors located
in Toodyay, in the member for Moore's electorate, and in Narrogin, in
the member for Wagin's electorate. The southern inland catchment area
stretches from Kalbarri and Meekatharra in the north to Laverton in the east,
down to Esperance in the south. So far, doctors have been signed up in
Corrigin, Northam, Moora, Wagin, Lake Grace, Kalbarri, Merredin, Collie,
Esperance, Mt Magnet, Narrogin, Dongara, Boddington, Kondinin, Kununoppin and
Katanning. There are 19 candidates progressing through their initial assessment
and, in the coming weeks, three new recruits are due to start practising in
Northam, Yilgarn and Wyalkatchem. That will take the number of new GPs we have
attracted to this region to 27.
This has to be contrasted to the
time when the Labor Party held the treasury bench, when people could not get a
doctor's appointment in regional Western Australia. Not only could they
not get a doctor's appointment, the plan put forward by then Minister
Bob Kucera and, subsequently, Minister Jim McGinty, was that if people could
not get a doctor's appointment the solution was to shut the hospital.
If towns could not attract doctors, the plan was to hollow out the whole health
system in the southern half of regional WA. I am happy to say, as part of the
Liberal–National government, that we have done the exact opposite. We
have put in place a plan to attract doctors. As well as that, we have put in
place a plan to rebuild —
Mr
P.B. Watson : How about putting a few in Albany.
Mr
B.J. GRYLLS : I am happy to talk about Albany health. I think a $170 million
brand-new hospital has been opened in the member for Albany's
electorate, so I would have thought our record was pretty good. The member for
Albany should have asked me the question!
Mr
P.B. Watson interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Albany!
Mr
P.B. Watson : He's talking to me.
The
SPEAKER : You started it; stop it.
Mr
B.J. GRYLLS : These doctors have been targeted through a very substantial
recruitment program. We are getting a lot of interest from doctors in the
United Kingdom who are interested in coming to WA to live and work in our
regional communities under the Southern Inland Health Initiative. Importantly,
more than that, we are investing in the infrastructure of health in these
regional communities. Major upgrades are planned for the hospitals in Collie,
Katanning, Narrogin, Manjimup, Merredin and Northam. They are all set for major
upgrades. Enabling works for 36 sites are underway to ensure that the program
can progress. That is part of a $325 million investment into the southern
inland health infrastructure system. Given what is happening in Albany and
Busselton and across the metropolitan health network in attracting and
retaining doctors, Western Australia is going through a revolution in health
delivery.
The final thing I will talk about is
telehealth. The telehealth program is making an amazing difference to the
ability of country communities to link our best emergency doctors to country
hospitals so that when a patient turns up at hospital they can get some of the
best expert care. There are now 24 sites connected to emergency telehealth, and
Kununoppin, in the seat of the member for Central Wheatbelt, has been the
latest site to come online and link the doctors and nurses in those regional
hospitals to our best medical experts here in Perth. Already through the
telehealth program there have been more than 1 900 consults since August last
year. Nineteen hundred separate patients have got the best expert advice from
the doctors in the metropolitan area out to regional hospitals. We have brought
doctors to the regional communities; we are investing in building hospitals and
using the latest technology to bring up-to-date, world-class health to regional
communities. It is the Southern Inland Health Initiative, and it is what the
Liberal–National government means to country Western Australia.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.