❓ Mr. Millman asks about the $250 million emergency care reform package. The Minister outlines key aspects, including addressing long-stay patients and the need for Commonwealth support for primary care.
AnsweredQoN 258Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EMERGENCY
CARE REFORM PACKAGE
258. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's sustained
and significant investment in our health system, including the $250 million
reform package to address the challenges facing our emergency care system. Can
the minister outline to the house the key parts of this comprehensive reform
package and advise how this significant investment will help improve the delivery
of emergency care in Western Australia?
CARE REFORM PACKAGE
258. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's sustained
and significant investment in our health system, including the $250 million
reform package to address the challenges facing our emergency care system. Can
the minister outline to the house the key parts of this comprehensive reform
package and advise how this significant investment will help improve the delivery
of emergency care in Western Australia?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his question.
This government has never ever shied away from the challenges
in the health system. In 2017, when we were elected, my predecessor in this
portfolio immediately established the sustainable health review, which looked
at the long-term reform required in the health system to shift the focus from
acute care to supporting more preventive measures in the community. We continue
that important work that will help to shape our system in years to come. This
government has boosted health funding by 22 per cent in the last two years—that
is, a 22 per cent increase in health funding alone in Western Australia since
the pandemic began.
There is no question that our emergency departments are under
pressure at the moment. We have high numbers of COVID cases in the community.
We have furloughed staff. We have infection control measures in place to stop
COVID running rampant in our hospitals, because we need to protect the people
in those hospitals who are already sick. We have seen significant delayed care
from COVID in the last two years, and that has led to higher acuity and more
presentations in emergency. It is not just me who is saying that; it is people
on the ground who are saying that. They are telling us that these are the
causes. Another major factor, a significant factor, is the total lack of GPs in
the community, particularly in regional areas. This is felt really acutely
particularly in those peri-urban and suburban
areas, where people cannot get in to see a GP. We need the federal government
to step up and fix this gap . What happens is that people wait and they
get sicker and then they go to the emergency department.
The state government does not run the health system on its
own. We are not in a vacuum; it has to be the whole ecosystem working together.
But with the emergency department reform package we are stepping in and we are
stepping up to fill the gap that the commonwealth has left. We have around 250 patients
in the system who are awaiting NDIS and aged-care plans. That is a shockingly
high number. The state government is putting $74 million towards funding those packages and purchasing care
packages and transition packages for those patients so that they can get
out of hospital, because they do not want to be there either. Our top priority
is to help smooth that pathway.
We have also established a ministerial task force that will
oversee a number of measures. The package involves around 17 different measures.
This is a complex system and a complex issue, and we are absolutely committed
to targeting each and every one of those issues. The package includes $3 million
to develop the state health operations centre
business case, which will help to centralise the management of the system
across regional and metropolitan WA . If adopted, this will be one of the
biggest reforms we have seen in our health system, certainly over the last 15
to 20 years. The 15 other measures are targeted at existing pressures, like
long-stay patients. We will continue to do that to ensure that the community
has access to emergency departments, but we have to work as a whole ecosystem. Quite frankly, what is letting us down the most
right now is the commonwealth government, with its lack of funding for
primary care and lack of incentives for GPs, particularly in the regions, and
the state system is bearing the brunt of that.
This government has never ever shied away from the challenges
in the health system. In 2017, when we were elected, my predecessor in this
portfolio immediately established the sustainable health review, which looked
at the long-term reform required in the health system to shift the focus from
acute care to supporting more preventive measures in the community. We continue
that important work that will help to shape our system in years to come. This
government has boosted health funding by 22 per cent in the last two years—that
is, a 22 per cent increase in health funding alone in Western Australia since
the pandemic began.
There is no question that our emergency departments are under
pressure at the moment. We have high numbers of COVID cases in the community.
We have furloughed staff. We have infection control measures in place to stop
COVID running rampant in our hospitals, because we need to protect the people
in those hospitals who are already sick. We have seen significant delayed care
from COVID in the last two years, and that has led to higher acuity and more
presentations in emergency. It is not just me who is saying that; it is people
on the ground who are saying that. They are telling us that these are the
causes. Another major factor, a significant factor, is the total lack of GPs in
the community, particularly in regional areas. This is felt really acutely
particularly in those peri-urban and suburban
areas, where people cannot get in to see a GP. We need the federal government
to step up and fix this gap . What happens is that people wait and they
get sicker and then they go to the emergency department.
The state government does not run the health system on its
own. We are not in a vacuum; it has to be the whole ecosystem working together.
But with the emergency department reform package we are stepping in and we are
stepping up to fill the gap that the commonwealth has left. We have around 250 patients
in the system who are awaiting NDIS and aged-care plans. That is a shockingly
high number. The state government is putting $74 million towards funding those packages and purchasing care
packages and transition packages for those patients so that they can get
out of hospital, because they do not want to be there either. Our top priority
is to help smooth that pathway.
We have also established a ministerial task force that will
oversee a number of measures. The package involves around 17 different measures.
This is a complex system and a complex issue, and we are absolutely committed
to targeting each and every one of those issues. The package includes $3 million
to develop the state health operations centre
business case, which will help to centralise the management of the system
across regional and metropolitan WA . If adopted, this will be one of the
biggest reforms we have seen in our health system, certainly over the last 15
to 20 years. The 15 other measures are targeted at existing pressures, like
long-stay patients. We will continue to do that to ensure that the community
has access to emergency departments, but we have to work as a whole ecosystem. Quite frankly, what is letting us down the most
right now is the commonwealth government, with its lack of funding for
primary care and lack of incentives for GPs, particularly in the regions, and
the state system is bearing the brunt of that.
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