❓ Ms. Baker questions the Minister for Health on the $3.2 billion investment in the WA health system, focusing on hospital capacity and comparison to previous investments. The Minister highlights increased budget, staffing, beds, and reforms.
AnsweredQoN 310Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE BUDGET 2024–25
— HEALTH SYSTEM — INVESTMENT
310. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Health:
Before I ask the question, the
member for Murray–Wellington asked me to recognise the Carcoola Primary
School year 6 group, who I hope is still here to hear that.
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
additional $3.2 billion investment in the WA health system that was announced
in last week's state budget.
(1) Could the
minister outline how this investment is boosting hospital capacity and
improving access to care for Western Australians?
(2) Could the minister tell us how our investment in
fact compares with levels provided by previous governments?
— HEALTH SYSTEM — INVESTMENT
310. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Health:
Before I ask the question, the
member for Murray–Wellington asked me to recognise the Carcoola Primary
School year 6 group, who I hope is still here to hear that.
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
additional $3.2 billion investment in the WA health system that was announced
in last week's state budget.
(1) Could the
minister outline how this investment is boosting hospital capacity and
improving access to care for Western Australians?
(2) Could the minister tell us how our investment in
fact compares with levels provided by previous governments?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for Maylands for the question. Under this government we know,
and the Treasurer will attest, that the
health budget has grown by 45 per cent. That is a 45 per cent increase to the
provision of public health services in Western Australia. The workforce
alone has increased by more than 4 400 FTE nurses and 1 800 FTE medical staff.
That is a huge increase in staffing in our system. Over the last three years we
have added 700 beds to the public health system. That is the size of Fiona
Stanley Hospital—another Fiona Stanley Hospital in the last three years—with
another 550 planned and in the pipeline. We are building the brand new women's
and babies' hospital at Murdoch. Ambulance ramping is trending downwards and we are performing a record
number of elective surgeries, more than any previous government has
performed. We know that this government has a plan for our health system,
unlike the Liberals and Nationals who have no plan and no priorities.
I will go through some of our
priorities for health. We get accused of having the wrong priorities in health.
The community and the public will make their own determination about whether
those priorities are right. Our priorities are reducing ambulance ramping
through significant reform and investing in reform. More than $800 million has
been invested in reform alone. That is on top of the staff, beds and all the
other infrastructure, structural and clinical needs. That is just on the reform
program for doing things differently in our system, because we know we will
have to do things differently. We need to provide more treatment for people in
the community, both in health and mental health. A key plank of that is the WA
virtual emergency department, focused initially on older adults, and we are now
pivoting that to expand to mental health patients. People experiencing mental
health crises will get attended to by a trained paramedic and mental health practitioner.
All these reforms have been developed
side by side with clinicians as part of the ramping taskforce. We asked: ''What
are your ideas? Talk to us. How can we work together to ensure that we are
getting better patient flow?'' They have come to the party, but they get
nothing but criticism from the Leader of the Liberal Party. They get belittled
as thought bubbles and completely dismissed when it is actually really
constructive and deep engagement with the workforce to work through what those
challenges are. It is working. There is a record number of elective surgeries.
In May, August, October and November we broke records for the most number of
elective surgeries ever delivered. We are busier than ever; we are doing more
surgeries than ever, and we are working to reduce that bed block that slows
down surgery and emergency access.
The
new women's and babies' hospital will also include a new
midwifery-led birthing centre in Osborne Park as well as south metro. We
are building Osborne Park Hospital for generations to come. We will ensure that
that is fit for purpose for generations to come. It will be scrapped by the
Liberal Party and we are yet to hear from the Nationals WA what its position
is. Who knows, it might come up with completely
different positions; in fact, it is highly probable. Importantly, this budget
handed down last week by the Treasurer also includes a significant
uplift to child development services, paediatricians, speech therapists,
occupational therapists, social workers—all of that multidisciplinary
approach for assessing and treating children with developmental needs. We know
that they will see more families in a shorter time frame with that funding and
the $47 million for acute care response for mental health. That is mobile teams
out to families for children and families experiencing mental health crises. It
is a nearly $50 million expansion. I think they are pretty good priorities,
Leader of the Liberal Party. I am pretty proud of those priorities, actually. I
cannot wait to hear her priorities, because right now all we hear is crickets.
thank the member for Maylands for the question. Under this government we know,
and the Treasurer will attest, that the
health budget has grown by 45 per cent. That is a 45 per cent increase to the
provision of public health services in Western Australia. The workforce
alone has increased by more than 4 400 FTE nurses and 1 800 FTE medical staff.
That is a huge increase in staffing in our system. Over the last three years we
have added 700 beds to the public health system. That is the size of Fiona
Stanley Hospital—another Fiona Stanley Hospital in the last three years—with
another 550 planned and in the pipeline. We are building the brand new women's
and babies' hospital at Murdoch. Ambulance ramping is trending downwards and we are performing a record
number of elective surgeries, more than any previous government has
performed. We know that this government has a plan for our health system,
unlike the Liberals and Nationals who have no plan and no priorities.
I will go through some of our
priorities for health. We get accused of having the wrong priorities in health.
The community and the public will make their own determination about whether
those priorities are right. Our priorities are reducing ambulance ramping
through significant reform and investing in reform. More than $800 million has
been invested in reform alone. That is on top of the staff, beds and all the
other infrastructure, structural and clinical needs. That is just on the reform
program for doing things differently in our system, because we know we will
have to do things differently. We need to provide more treatment for people in
the community, both in health and mental health. A key plank of that is the WA
virtual emergency department, focused initially on older adults, and we are now
pivoting that to expand to mental health patients. People experiencing mental
health crises will get attended to by a trained paramedic and mental health practitioner.
All these reforms have been developed
side by side with clinicians as part of the ramping taskforce. We asked: ''What
are your ideas? Talk to us. How can we work together to ensure that we are
getting better patient flow?'' They have come to the party, but they get
nothing but criticism from the Leader of the Liberal Party. They get belittled
as thought bubbles and completely dismissed when it is actually really
constructive and deep engagement with the workforce to work through what those
challenges are. It is working. There is a record number of elective surgeries.
In May, August, October and November we broke records for the most number of
elective surgeries ever delivered. We are busier than ever; we are doing more
surgeries than ever, and we are working to reduce that bed block that slows
down surgery and emergency access.
The
new women's and babies' hospital will also include a new
midwifery-led birthing centre in Osborne Park as well as south metro. We
are building Osborne Park Hospital for generations to come. We will ensure that
that is fit for purpose for generations to come. It will be scrapped by the
Liberal Party and we are yet to hear from the Nationals WA what its position
is. Who knows, it might come up with completely
different positions; in fact, it is highly probable. Importantly, this budget
handed down last week by the Treasurer also includes a significant
uplift to child development services, paediatricians, speech therapists,
occupational therapists, social workers—all of that multidisciplinary
approach for assessing and treating children with developmental needs. We know
that they will see more families in a shorter time frame with that funding and
the $47 million for acute care response for mental health. That is mobile teams
out to families for children and families experiencing mental health crises. It
is a nearly $50 million expansion. I think they are pretty good priorities,
Leader of the Liberal Party. I am pretty proud of those priorities, actually. I
cannot wait to hear her priorities, because right now all we hear is crickets.
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