❓ Debate over the future of Bentley Hospital's maternity services following the opening of Fiona Stanley Hospital. The Minister defends the decision to potentially move services due to staffing issues and a review recommending the move, while facing opposition accusations of broken promises and service closures.
AnsweredQoN 932Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BENTLEY
HOSPITAL — MATERNITY SERVICES
932. Mr R.H. COOK to the
Minister for Health:
I refer to the
minister's statement in February this year, and I quote —
If six months after the opening of
Fiona Stanley Hospital the number at Bentley Hospital is still somewhere near
the 1 000 mark, we will retain Bentley maternity hospital.
I also refer to the
fact that up to October there have been 900 births, with an estimated 1 100
births for this year. Will the minister fulfil his promise to retain maternity
services at Bentley Hospital and what will be the future of the hospital in
light of the report by Professor Con Michael?
HOSPITAL — MATERNITY SERVICES
932. Mr R.H. COOK to the
Minister for Health:
I refer to the
minister's statement in February this year, and I quote —
If six months after the opening of
Fiona Stanley Hospital the number at Bentley Hospital is still somewhere near
the 1 000 mark, we will retain Bentley maternity hospital.
I also refer to the
fact that up to October there have been 900 births, with an estimated 1 100
births for this year. Will the minister fulfil his promise to retain maternity
services at Bentley Hospital and what will be the future of the hospital in
light of the report by Professor Con Michael?
AnswerView source ↗
I did make comments along those lines. I do not know if that was a
quote or a summation of what I said, because I did say, in fact, sometime
before that at the time—the first time—I would reconsider the
issue if there were 1 000 deliveries. The issue came up because of the original
report by Dr Cohen into maternity services in this state, which stated that in
order for a maternity service to be safe, it needed at least 1 000 deliveries.
My understanding was that I said that if Bentley still had 1 000 deliveries, I
would reconsider. In reconsidering, I requested Professor Michael to do a
review and come back and report to me on what he thought was the best outcome
and to see whether he, as an obstetrician/gynaecologist in this state, was of
the view that we should retain Bentley or whether the service should be moved.
His recommendation, as the member would know from us releasing the report, is
that it should be removed. Lots of people have been talking about safety
issues. To me, there is no big safety issue at the hospital; in fact, there are
potential safety issues, with theatre numbers and access to theatres and the
first-class care we expect to get in a metropolitan area that is not
necessarily reflected sometimes outside the metropolitan area. His
recommendation is that it should be —
Mr
R.H. Cook interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : On safety, I have seen no evidence of
adverse outcomes from that hospital, so I do not believe there is a safety
issue.
At Fiona Stanley Hospital, we have a brand-new maternity ward
that is operating extremely well. One of the difficulties at Fiona Stanley is
that we do not have sufficient staff to do the full expansion. Just down the
road, we have a maternity unit that is old and tired. It is functioning very
well, but we do not have the staff to fully man that other site. It is just
logical that those staff and specialists move to the new centre and that those
patients move with them. We are talking to the staff at Bentley Hospital about
retaining antenatal and postnatal services at the Bentley site and also
developing a midwifery code of practice that allows midwives to practice at
Bentley in their antenatal and postnatal care and to manage deliveries at the
hospital.
Mr R.H. Cook : The
minister is killing it off slowly like he did at Kalamunda.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The
member is the last person to talk! Members on his side are the last people to
talk about this because they shut Woodside Maternity Hospital—a
perfectly functioning specialist unit —
Mr R.H. Cook : We
opened Kaleeya Hospital and you closed that as well!
Dr K.D. HAMES : Of
course I closed that because that was part of the member's previous
minister's recommendation and plan.
Mr R.H. Cook interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Is
the member denying that this was the Labor Party's plan regarding the
closure of Kaleeya?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, members on both sides! Hansard has to follow this debate.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
This is the right decision. Fiona Stanley Hospital does not have adequate
staffing. One reason that they have continued to do thousands of deliveries at
Bentley is because there were postcode restrictions on people being able to go
to Fiona Stanley Hospital. Many people who may have wanted to go to Fiona Stanley
Hospital from Bentley have not been permitted to do so. Why not? It is because
we do not have the staff there. We are in a catch 22 situation. We do not have
the staff at Fiona Stanley Hospital so patients have to stay at Bentley when
there is a far better quality of service in terms of facilities at Fiona
Stanley Hospital.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : But
the minister knew that.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I
did not know that we would not have sufficient staff at Fiona Stanley, and that
as soon as we opened Fiona Stanley Hospital to those patients at Bentley, they
would all go across. I think that some of them have wanted to go across but
they have not been allowed to. The number of deliveries would be under that
number if those people were allowed to go to Fiona Stanley Hospital.
It is the right decision. A brand-new facility is 10 to 15
minutes down the road. We will work very closely with staff at Bentley Hospital
who are upset by this decision to make sure that we facilitate their continued
participation in antenatal and postnatal services at Bentley Hospital—and
the introduction of a midwifery service, as well as ensuring that necessary
staff are at Fiona Stanley Hospital to provide the service that we need.
quote or a summation of what I said, because I did say, in fact, sometime
before that at the time—the first time—I would reconsider the
issue if there were 1 000 deliveries. The issue came up because of the original
report by Dr Cohen into maternity services in this state, which stated that in
order for a maternity service to be safe, it needed at least 1 000 deliveries.
My understanding was that I said that if Bentley still had 1 000 deliveries, I
would reconsider. In reconsidering, I requested Professor Michael to do a
review and come back and report to me on what he thought was the best outcome
and to see whether he, as an obstetrician/gynaecologist in this state, was of
the view that we should retain Bentley or whether the service should be moved.
His recommendation, as the member would know from us releasing the report, is
that it should be removed. Lots of people have been talking about safety
issues. To me, there is no big safety issue at the hospital; in fact, there are
potential safety issues, with theatre numbers and access to theatres and the
first-class care we expect to get in a metropolitan area that is not
necessarily reflected sometimes outside the metropolitan area. His
recommendation is that it should be —
Mr
R.H. Cook interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : On safety, I have seen no evidence of
adverse outcomes from that hospital, so I do not believe there is a safety
issue.
At Fiona Stanley Hospital, we have a brand-new maternity ward
that is operating extremely well. One of the difficulties at Fiona Stanley is
that we do not have sufficient staff to do the full expansion. Just down the
road, we have a maternity unit that is old and tired. It is functioning very
well, but we do not have the staff to fully man that other site. It is just
logical that those staff and specialists move to the new centre and that those
patients move with them. We are talking to the staff at Bentley Hospital about
retaining antenatal and postnatal services at the Bentley site and also
developing a midwifery code of practice that allows midwives to practice at
Bentley in their antenatal and postnatal care and to manage deliveries at the
hospital.
Mr R.H. Cook : The
minister is killing it off slowly like he did at Kalamunda.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The
member is the last person to talk! Members on his side are the last people to
talk about this because they shut Woodside Maternity Hospital—a
perfectly functioning specialist unit —
Mr R.H. Cook : We
opened Kaleeya Hospital and you closed that as well!
Dr K.D. HAMES : Of
course I closed that because that was part of the member's previous
minister's recommendation and plan.
Mr R.H. Cook interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Is
the member denying that this was the Labor Party's plan regarding the
closure of Kaleeya?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, members on both sides! Hansard has to follow this debate.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
This is the right decision. Fiona Stanley Hospital does not have adequate
staffing. One reason that they have continued to do thousands of deliveries at
Bentley is because there were postcode restrictions on people being able to go
to Fiona Stanley Hospital. Many people who may have wanted to go to Fiona Stanley
Hospital from Bentley have not been permitted to do so. Why not? It is because
we do not have the staff there. We are in a catch 22 situation. We do not have
the staff at Fiona Stanley Hospital so patients have to stay at Bentley when
there is a far better quality of service in terms of facilities at Fiona
Stanley Hospital.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : But
the minister knew that.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I
did not know that we would not have sufficient staff at Fiona Stanley, and that
as soon as we opened Fiona Stanley Hospital to those patients at Bentley, they
would all go across. I think that some of them have wanted to go across but
they have not been allowed to. The number of deliveries would be under that
number if those people were allowed to go to Fiona Stanley Hospital.
It is the right decision. A brand-new facility is 10 to 15
minutes down the road. We will work very closely with staff at Bentley Hospital
who are upset by this decision to make sure that we facilitate their continued
participation in antenatal and postnatal services at Bentley Hospital—and
the introduction of a midwifery service, as well as ensuring that necessary
staff are at Fiona Stanley Hospital to provide the service that we need.
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.