❓ The Premier addresses questions regarding health system reforms, highlighting the Council for the Australian Federation meeting and investments in WA's health system, while also criticising the opposition's past handling of federal relations and health matters. He reports progress in reducing ambulance ramping despite increased hospitalisations.
AnsweredQoN 697Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HEALTH — COUNCIL
FOR THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERATION MEETING
697. Ms C.M. COLLINS to the Premier:
On
behalf of the member for Cockburn, I acknowledge students from Yangebup Primary
School in the public gallery.
I refer to the government's
efforts to reform Western Australia's health system.
(1) Can the Premier update the
house on his recent meeting with state and territory leaders in Adelaide?
(2) Can the
Premier advise the house of any progress stemming from its record investment in
the Western Australian health system?
FOR THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERATION MEETING
697. Ms C.M. COLLINS to the Premier:
On
behalf of the member for Cockburn, I acknowledge students from Yangebup Primary
School in the public gallery.
I refer to the government's
efforts to reform Western Australia's health system.
(1) Can the Premier update the
house on his recent meeting with state and territory leaders in Adelaide?
(2) Can the
Premier advise the house of any progress stemming from its record investment in
the Western Australian health system?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the question; it is an
important one. At least the member for Hillarys, unlike those opposite,
understands the importance of the Western Australian government engaging with
other governments in Australia and the commonwealth. We saw that members
opposite could never resolve issues around the GST and could never attract
funding from the commonwealth government. Indeed, when in government, they
completely avoided the federal government, refusing to engage, and because of
that, the state went backwards. That is not our approach.
Last
week, I joined the other state leaders in Adelaide for the Council for the
Australian Federation meeting , which built on the work by the Prime
Minister and national cabinet's focus on health-related work this year.
The pressures that we have experienced in our emergency departments are not
unique. These are consistent challenges that are faced right across health
systems throughout Australia and indeed the world. The Prime Minister has made
it clear that we must take a unified approach to practical and tangible reforms
to ensure we have affordable access to medical care, no matter where someone
lives, and improve access to primary care through access to local general
practitioners. There is a lot more work to be done, as we know, both at a national
and state level. A lot has been done through tough economic conditions,
inflationary pressures and high demand for skilled workers. The groundwork has
been laid, and I am very proud to say that last week we made significant
progress in continuing this national partnership.
Under
the stewardship of the Minister for Health, Hon Amber-Jade Sanderson, we are
seeing serious policy reform and record investment in our health system.
Since 2021–22, we have invested a record $10 billion towards health and
mental health. This recently included $75 million to reduce ambulance ramping
and improve emergency care, a $420 million boost to mental health services and
the Graylands Hospital redevelopment, and an $841 million investment in
hospital services. This funding boost also covers the significant growth in the
public sector workforce—the people who make our hospitals actually
tick. In the past five years we have welcomed an extra 2 700 nurses and
midwives, and an extra 1 500 medical practitioners. We are making the
investments that will continue to see improvement in hospital care.
We acknowledge that there is always
more to be done, but there are encouraging signs. Last month, I shared some
ambulance ramping progress for July. I am pleased to report that we have seen
further progress in the latest figures. In August, ramping decreased by 30 per
cent compared with the same time last year, despite an ED presentation increase
of 10 per cent. In addition, initial data for September shows a 34 per cent decrease compared with September
last year. These are promising signs. That improvement— the 34
per cent decrease in ambulance ramping—is despite a record flu season,
mixed with COVID-19 and other respiratory infections, that saw a 146 per cent
increase in hospitalisations compared with the same time last year.
The ramping figures are still high
but progress is incremental and the early signs are encouraging. I thank the
Minister for Health for the amazing work that she has done, along with our
healthcare leadership and, of course, the doctors and nurses working on the
frontline, in continuing to bring our hospital system back into balance as we
meet the challenges of this post-COVID period.
The health system is enormously
complex and large, and the solutions are rarely simple. As we see, some prefer
to spend their time playing politics around health, ignoring the fact that
important work has to be done at both the national and state levels to continue
to see improvement in our healthcare systems. We are not going to play
politics. We will do the hard work, make the strong investments that are needed
and continue to support our nurses and doctors on the frontline so that we can
continue to see improvements, bring balance to the system and get the whole
health system back into equilibrium.
important one. At least the member for Hillarys, unlike those opposite,
understands the importance of the Western Australian government engaging with
other governments in Australia and the commonwealth. We saw that members
opposite could never resolve issues around the GST and could never attract
funding from the commonwealth government. Indeed, when in government, they
completely avoided the federal government, refusing to engage, and because of
that, the state went backwards. That is not our approach.
Last
week, I joined the other state leaders in Adelaide for the Council for the
Australian Federation meeting , which built on the work by the Prime
Minister and national cabinet's focus on health-related work this year.
The pressures that we have experienced in our emergency departments are not
unique. These are consistent challenges that are faced right across health
systems throughout Australia and indeed the world. The Prime Minister has made
it clear that we must take a unified approach to practical and tangible reforms
to ensure we have affordable access to medical care, no matter where someone
lives, and improve access to primary care through access to local general
practitioners. There is a lot more work to be done, as we know, both at a national
and state level. A lot has been done through tough economic conditions,
inflationary pressures and high demand for skilled workers. The groundwork has
been laid, and I am very proud to say that last week we made significant
progress in continuing this national partnership.
Under
the stewardship of the Minister for Health, Hon Amber-Jade Sanderson, we are
seeing serious policy reform and record investment in our health system.
Since 2021–22, we have invested a record $10 billion towards health and
mental health. This recently included $75 million to reduce ambulance ramping
and improve emergency care, a $420 million boost to mental health services and
the Graylands Hospital redevelopment, and an $841 million investment in
hospital services. This funding boost also covers the significant growth in the
public sector workforce—the people who make our hospitals actually
tick. In the past five years we have welcomed an extra 2 700 nurses and
midwives, and an extra 1 500 medical practitioners. We are making the
investments that will continue to see improvement in hospital care.
We acknowledge that there is always
more to be done, but there are encouraging signs. Last month, I shared some
ambulance ramping progress for July. I am pleased to report that we have seen
further progress in the latest figures. In August, ramping decreased by 30 per
cent compared with the same time last year, despite an ED presentation increase
of 10 per cent. In addition, initial data for September shows a 34 per cent decrease compared with September
last year. These are promising signs. That improvement— the 34
per cent decrease in ambulance ramping—is despite a record flu season,
mixed with COVID-19 and other respiratory infections, that saw a 146 per cent
increase in hospitalisations compared with the same time last year.
The ramping figures are still high
but progress is incremental and the early signs are encouraging. I thank the
Minister for Health for the amazing work that she has done, along with our
healthcare leadership and, of course, the doctors and nurses working on the
frontline, in continuing to bring our hospital system back into balance as we
meet the challenges of this post-COVID period.
The health system is enormously
complex and large, and the solutions are rarely simple. As we see, some prefer
to spend their time playing politics around health, ignoring the fact that
important work has to be done at both the national and state levels to continue
to see improvement in our healthcare systems. We are not going to play
politics. We will do the hard work, make the strong investments that are needed
and continue to support our nurses and doctors on the frontline so that we can
continue to see improvements, bring balance to the system and get the whole
health system back into equilibrium.
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