❓ The Minister for Health provides an update on the expansion of specialist newborn services at Albany Health Campus, highlighting the government's investment and commitment to regional healthcare, particularly maternity services.
AnsweredQoN 567Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ALBANY HEALTH CAMPUS —
SPECIALIST NEWBORN SERVICES
567. Ms R.S. STEPHENS to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to providing
world-class health care to regional Western Australia.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the expansion of the specialist newborn services
at Albany Health Campus?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house what these new services will mean for mums and babies
in the great southern?
SPECIALIST NEWBORN SERVICES
567. Ms R.S. STEPHENS to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to providing
world-class health care to regional Western Australia.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the expansion of the specialist newborn services
at Albany Health Campus?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house what these new services will mean for mums and babies
in the great southern?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Albany for
her question.
(1)–(2) We
all know that Albany is a vibrant and growing regional community and that many,
many families are choosing to make Albany their home. In fact, more than 550
babies are born at Albany Health Campus every year, which is significant for a regional
health campus. The team down there in Albany does an incredible job. The member
for Albany has firsthand experience of the fantastic maternity services at the
health campus and the fantastic care that it provides the local community.
Everyone in this chamber knows that
one of the priorities for me as the Minister for Health is to expand the range
of maternity services that are available to women, whether they are in the
metropolitan area or in regional areas, and
to allow women to birth closer to home. That is why the Cook Labor government
has invested $4.1 million to double the size of the special care nursery in
Albany, which means that more preterm babies, as well as newborns with some
complex health issues, can stay closer to mum while they get the care they
need, and mum can birth at home closer to her family and to the region that she
lives in. This is a fantastic new unit. The Premier was there to open it last
week with the member for Albany. It will also be staffed by an additional 5.7 full-time equivalent senior nursing
staff to support the special care nursery.
This builds on the extensive work
that the government has done on expanding birthing choices and providing maternity care closer to home and, for
regional women, including adding water birthing facilities at Broome
Health Campus and Armadale Hospital. We have expanded the number of midwifery
group practices most recently in Karratha.
We are also rolling out the endorsed midwifery–led birthing centre at Bentley Hospital, which will open later this
year. We are expanding birthing in neonatology at Osborne Park Hospital, including a brand new family birthing
centre and, of course, we are building the brand new women's and babies' hospital at Murdoch, which
will provide greater access for regional women and their babies.
We are growing our midwifery workforce
in the regions, including in Albany, by funding scholarships for regional
nurses to train as midwives while continuing to worth flexibly in our health
system. One of the major barriers for training and upskilling the nursing
workforce is the requirement to stop work to do the training. These
scholarships have had outstanding successes and are incredibly popular. One of
our trainees, Jo Morgan, an Albany local, is
one of the 15 graduate midwives who has transitioned from a senior
registered nurse to midwifery. She says that this program has enabled her to
stay living rurally in Albany while completing her studies and being paid.
Often, people would have to relocate from regional centres to metropolitan
centres, which means we lose those skills while they are upskilling in Perth.
It is only this government that is
expanding regional access to health care. It is, and has been, an ongoing priority to expand the regional services to health
care for regional people, whether that is by doubling the provision of
cancer services in regional Western Australia since 2017, including the
introduction of radiology and oncology services in Albany, expanding birthing
choices and maternity care for regional Western Australians or increasing the
patient assisted travel scheme subsidy for Western Australians who have to
drive to access health care. It is only the Cook Labor government that is truly
committed to this. We know that the National Party is more interested in
expanding trading hours in the metropolitan area than it is in representing
constituents in regional WA.
The SPEAKER : I call the
Leader of the Opposition, who may have been first last time.
her question.
(1)–(2) We
all know that Albany is a vibrant and growing regional community and that many,
many families are choosing to make Albany their home. In fact, more than 550
babies are born at Albany Health Campus every year, which is significant for a regional
health campus. The team down there in Albany does an incredible job. The member
for Albany has firsthand experience of the fantastic maternity services at the
health campus and the fantastic care that it provides the local community.
Everyone in this chamber knows that
one of the priorities for me as the Minister for Health is to expand the range
of maternity services that are available to women, whether they are in the
metropolitan area or in regional areas, and
to allow women to birth closer to home. That is why the Cook Labor government
has invested $4.1 million to double the size of the special care nursery in
Albany, which means that more preterm babies, as well as newborns with some
complex health issues, can stay closer to mum while they get the care they
need, and mum can birth at home closer to her family and to the region that she
lives in. This is a fantastic new unit. The Premier was there to open it last
week with the member for Albany. It will also be staffed by an additional 5.7 full-time equivalent senior nursing
staff to support the special care nursery.
This builds on the extensive work
that the government has done on expanding birthing choices and providing maternity care closer to home and, for
regional women, including adding water birthing facilities at Broome
Health Campus and Armadale Hospital. We have expanded the number of midwifery
group practices most recently in Karratha.
We are also rolling out the endorsed midwifery–led birthing centre at Bentley Hospital, which will open later this
year. We are expanding birthing in neonatology at Osborne Park Hospital, including a brand new family birthing
centre and, of course, we are building the brand new women's and babies' hospital at Murdoch, which
will provide greater access for regional women and their babies.
We are growing our midwifery workforce
in the regions, including in Albany, by funding scholarships for regional
nurses to train as midwives while continuing to worth flexibly in our health
system. One of the major barriers for training and upskilling the nursing
workforce is the requirement to stop work to do the training. These
scholarships have had outstanding successes and are incredibly popular. One of
our trainees, Jo Morgan, an Albany local, is
one of the 15 graduate midwives who has transitioned from a senior
registered nurse to midwifery. She says that this program has enabled her to
stay living rurally in Albany while completing her studies and being paid.
Often, people would have to relocate from regional centres to metropolitan
centres, which means we lose those skills while they are upskilling in Perth.
It is only this government that is
expanding regional access to health care. It is, and has been, an ongoing priority to expand the regional services to health
care for regional people, whether that is by doubling the provision of
cancer services in regional Western Australia since 2017, including the
introduction of radiology and oncology services in Albany, expanding birthing
choices and maternity care for regional Western Australians or increasing the
patient assisted travel scheme subsidy for Western Australians who have to
drive to access health care. It is only the Cook Labor government that is truly
committed to this. We know that the National Party is more interested in
expanding trading hours in the metropolitan area than it is in representing
constituents in regional WA.
The SPEAKER : I call the
Leader of the Opposition, who may have been first last time.
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