❓ Mr Andrews asks about organ donation rates in WA following the first heart-lung transplant. Mr McGinty responds, highlighting WA's leading position and initiatives to further improve donation rates.
AnsweredQoN 332Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I was pleased to read media reports recently about the first heart-lung transplant being carried out in Western Australia. I thank the minister for his personal commitment to that area of health services. Will the minister advise the house on the rate of organ donation in Western Australia? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is my view that organ donation and transplantation are rapidly becoming an iconic success story for the Western Australian public health system. I am delighted to announce that, as of this month, Western Australia has the highest organ donation rate of any jurisdiction in Australia, exceeding even South Australia, which has traditionally been considered as the country’s benchmark. Last year there were a total of 23 organ donors in Western Australia compared with 18 in 2003, 15 in 2002 and 13 in 2001. After only the first five months of this year, Western Australia has already had 13 organ donations compared with eight in South Australia. The number of Western Australians who have registered as organ donors is 33 per cent of the population. Our objective is to increase that figure to above 50 per cent. Western Australia’s performance can be attributed to a number of factors, particularly the success of a pilot trial of a medical donor coordinator position at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; 24-hour rostering of a surgical retrieval team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital since August 2004; an extensive and ongoing community education campaign undertaken by the state’s organ donation agency, DonateWest; legislative changes that the government has put through this Parliament; and efficient networking between DonateWest and the medical community. The government is also taking several other significant steps to increase the number of potential donors in Western Australia, including the employment of a medical donor coordinator at each of the tertiary hospitals in Western Australia, the implementation of a protocol for non-heart beating kidney donation, and promoting live donation by developing laparoscopic retrieval of kidneys. The government is also pleased at the commitment of an additional $1.5 million to expand the heart transplant program last year to include lung transplantation for the first time in Western Australia. It means that Western Australia is truly becoming a leader in the area. The government intends to drive it harder and harder to ensure that the quality and extension of life for so many Western Australians will continue to be enhanced by organ transplantation.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is my view that organ donation and transplantation are rapidly becoming an iconic success story for the Western Australian public health system. I am delighted to announce that, as of this month, Western Australia has the highest organ donation rate of any jurisdiction in Australia, exceeding even South Australia, which has traditionally been considered as the country’s benchmark. Last year there were a total of 23 organ donors in Western Australia compared with 18 in 2003, 15 in 2002 and 13 in 2001. After only the first five months of this year, Western Australia has already had 13 organ donations compared with eight in South Australia. The number of Western Australians who have registered as organ donors is 33 per cent of the population. Our objective is to increase that figure to above 50 per cent. Western Australia’s performance can be attributed to a number of factors, particularly the success of a pilot trial of a medical donor coordinator position at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; 24-hour rostering of a surgical retrieval team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital since August 2004; an extensive and ongoing community education campaign undertaken by the state’s organ donation agency, DonateWest; legislative changes that the government has put through this Parliament; and efficient networking between DonateWest and the medical community. The government is also taking several other significant steps to increase the number of potential donors in Western Australia, including the employment of a medical donor coordinator at each of the tertiary hospitals in Western Australia, the implementation of a protocol for non-heart beating kidney donation, and promoting live donation by developing laparoscopic retrieval of kidneys. The government is also pleased at the commitment of an additional $1.5 million to expand the heart transplant program last year to include lung transplantation for the first time in Western Australia. It means that Western Australia is truly becoming a leader in the area. The government intends to drive it harder and harder to ensure that the quality and extension of life for so many Western Australians will continue to be enhanced by organ transplantation.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is my view that organ donation and transplantation are rapidly becoming an iconic success story for the Western Australian public health system. I am delighted to announce that, as of this month, Western Australia has the highest organ donation rate of any jurisdiction in Australia, exceeding even South Australia, which has traditionally been considered as the country’s benchmark. Last year there were a total of 23 organ donors in Western Australia compared with 18 in 2003, 15 in 2002 and 13 in 2001. After only the first five months of this year, Western Australia has already had 13 organ donations compared with eight in South Australia. The number of Western Australians who have registered as organ donors is 33 per cent of the population. Our objective is to increase that figure to above 50 per cent. Western Australia’s performance can be attributed to a number of factors, particularly the success of a pilot trial of a medical donor coordinator position at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; 24-hour rostering of a surgical retrieval team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital since August 2004; an extensive and ongoing community education campaign undertaken by the state’s organ donation agency, DonateWest; legislative changes that the government has put through this Parliament; and efficient networking between DonateWest and the medical community. The government is also taking several other significant steps to increase the number of potential donors in Western Australia, including the employment of a medical donor coordinator at each of the tertiary hospitals in Western Australia, the implementation of a protocol for non-heart beating kidney donation, and promoting live donation by developing laparoscopic retrieval of kidneys. The government is also pleased at the commitment of an additional $1.5 million to expand the heart transplant program last year to include lung transplantation for the first time in Western Australia. It means that Western Australia is truly becoming a leader in the area. The government intends to drive it harder and harder to ensure that the quality and extension of life for so many Western Australians will continue to be enhanced by organ transplantation.
The government is also taking several other significant steps to increase the number of potential donors in Western Australia, including the employment of a medical donor coordinator at each of the tertiary hospitals in Western Australia, the implementation of a protocol for non-heart beating kidney donation, and promoting live donation by developing laparoscopic retrieval of kidneys. The government is also pleased at the commitment of an additional $1.5 million to expand the heart transplant program last year to include lung transplantation for the first time in Western Australia. It means that Western Australia is truly becoming a leader in the area. The government intends to drive it harder and harder to ensure that the quality and extension of life for so many Western Australians will continue to be enhanced by organ transplantation.
The government is also pleased at the commitment of an additional $1.5 million to expand the heart transplant program last year to include lung transplantation for the first time in Western Australia. It means that Western Australia is truly becoming a leader in the area. The government intends to drive it harder and harder to ensure that the quality and extension of life for so many Western Australians will continue to be enhanced by organ transplantation.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is my view that organ donation and transplantation are rapidly becoming an iconic success story for the Western Australian public health system. I am delighted to announce that, as of this month, Western Australia has the highest organ donation rate of any jurisdiction in Australia, exceeding even South Australia, which has traditionally been considered as the country’s benchmark. Last year there were a total of 23 organ donors in Western Australia compared with 18 in 2003, 15 in 2002 and 13 in 2001. After only the first five months of this year, Western Australia has already had 13 organ donations compared with eight in South Australia. The number of Western Australians who have registered as organ donors is 33 per cent of the population. Our objective is to increase that figure to above 50 per cent. Western Australia’s performance can be attributed to a number of factors, particularly the success of a pilot trial of a medical donor coordinator position at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; 24-hour rostering of a surgical retrieval team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital since August 2004; an extensive and ongoing community education campaign undertaken by the state’s organ donation agency, DonateWest; legislative changes that the government has put through this Parliament; and efficient networking between DonateWest and the medical community. The government is also taking several other significant steps to increase the number of potential donors in Western Australia, including the employment of a medical donor coordinator at each of the tertiary hospitals in Western Australia, the implementation of a protocol for non-heart beating kidney donation, and promoting live donation by developing laparoscopic retrieval of kidneys. The government is also pleased at the commitment of an additional $1.5 million to expand the heart transplant program last year to include lung transplantation for the first time in Western Australia. It means that Western Australia is truly becoming a leader in the area. The government intends to drive it harder and harder to ensure that the quality and extension of life for so many Western Australians will continue to be enhanced by organ transplantation.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. It is my view that organ donation and transplantation are rapidly becoming an iconic success story for the Western Australian public health system. I am delighted to announce that, as of this month, Western Australia has the highest organ donation rate of any jurisdiction in Australia, exceeding even South Australia, which has traditionally been considered as the country’s benchmark. Last year there were a total of 23 organ donors in Western Australia compared with 18 in 2003, 15 in 2002 and 13 in 2001. After only the first five months of this year, Western Australia has already had 13 organ donations compared with eight in South Australia. The number of Western Australians who have registered as organ donors is 33 per cent of the population. Our objective is to increase that figure to above 50 per cent. Western Australia’s performance can be attributed to a number of factors, particularly the success of a pilot trial of a medical donor coordinator position at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; 24-hour rostering of a surgical retrieval team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital since August 2004; an extensive and ongoing community education campaign undertaken by the state’s organ donation agency, DonateWest; legislative changes that the government has put through this Parliament; and efficient networking between DonateWest and the medical community. The government is also taking several other significant steps to increase the number of potential donors in Western Australia, including the employment of a medical donor coordinator at each of the tertiary hospitals in Western Australia, the implementation of a protocol for non-heart beating kidney donation, and promoting live donation by developing laparoscopic retrieval of kidneys. The government is also pleased at the commitment of an additional $1.5 million to expand the heart transplant program last year to include lung transplantation for the first time in Western Australia. It means that Western Australia is truly becoming a leader in the area. The government intends to drive it harder and harder to ensure that the quality and extension of life for so many Western Australians will continue to be enhanced by organ transplantation.
The government is also taking several other significant steps to increase the number of potential donors in Western Australia, including the employment of a medical donor coordinator at each of the tertiary hospitals in Western Australia, the implementation of a protocol for non-heart beating kidney donation, and promoting live donation by developing laparoscopic retrieval of kidneys. The government is also pleased at the commitment of an additional $1.5 million to expand the heart transplant program last year to include lung transplantation for the first time in Western Australia. It means that Western Australia is truly becoming a leader in the area. The government intends to drive it harder and harder to ensure that the quality and extension of life for so many Western Australians will continue to be enhanced by organ transplantation.
The government is also pleased at the commitment of an additional $1.5 million to expand the heart transplant program last year to include lung transplantation for the first time in Western Australia. It means that Western Australia is truly becoming a leader in the area. The government intends to drive it harder and harder to ensure that the quality and extension of life for so many Western Australians will continue to be enhanced by organ transplantation.
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.