❓ Mr Jacob asks about the progress of the WA government's four-hour rule program in hospitals, implemented a year prior, in light of the Prime Minister's national health care reform package. Dr Hames responds positively, highlighting improvements in hospital function, reduced waiting times, and ambulance ramping, while also critiquing the Commonwealth's proposed implementation.
AnsweredQoN 141Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN — four-hour rule
I note that the Prime Minister has included a four-hour target in his health care reform package. As the Liberal–National government commenced a four-hour rule program in Western Australia a year ago, can the minister please advise the house of the progress of this program? Dr K.D. HAMES
I note that the Prime Minister has included a four-hour target in his health care reform package. As the Liberal–National government commenced a four-hour rule program in Western Australia a year ago, can the minister please advise the house of the progress of this program? Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
I heard the word “visionary” floating around; I have to say that it is a bit hard to take credit for that when a team had already gone to England to look at that rule when we came to government. Interestingly enough, the former minister did not know anything about that. After looking at that system, we were very pleased to be the first government in Australia to introduce it. One of the key components of the four-hour rule is strong support from government and government-driven implementation of the program. Mr R.H. Cook interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Can the member interject in bursts, so I can try to fit in between them, rather than interjecting constantly? We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I heard the word “visionary” floating around; I have to say that it is a bit hard to take credit for that when a team had already gone to England to look at that rule when we came to government. Interestingly enough, the former minister did not know anything about that. After looking at that system, we were very pleased to be the first government in Australia to introduce it. One of the key components of the four-hour rule is strong support from government and government-driven implementation of the program. Mr R.H. Cook interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Can the member interject in bursts, so I can try to fit in between them, rather than interjecting constantly? We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
I heard the word “visionary” floating around; I have to say that it is a bit hard to take credit for that when a team had already gone to England to look at that rule when we came to government. Interestingly enough, the former minister did not know anything about that. After looking at that system, we were very pleased to be the first government in Australia to introduce it. One of the key components of the four-hour rule is strong support from government and government-driven implementation of the program. Mr R.H. Cook interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Can the member interject in bursts, so I can try to fit in between them, rather than interjecting constantly? We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Mr R.H. Cook interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Can the member interject in bursts, so I can try to fit in between them, rather than interjecting constantly? We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Can the member interject in bursts, so I can try to fit in between them, rather than interjecting constantly? We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I heard the word “visionary” floating around; I have to say that it is a bit hard to take credit for that when a team had already gone to England to look at that rule when we came to government. Interestingly enough, the former minister did not know anything about that. After looking at that system, we were very pleased to be the first government in Australia to introduce it. One of the key components of the four-hour rule is strong support from government and government-driven implementation of the program. Mr R.H. Cook interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Can the member interject in bursts, so I can try to fit in between them, rather than interjecting constantly? We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
I heard the word “visionary” floating around; I have to say that it is a bit hard to take credit for that when a team had already gone to England to look at that rule when we came to government. Interestingly enough, the former minister did not know anything about that. After looking at that system, we were very pleased to be the first government in Australia to introduce it. One of the key components of the four-hour rule is strong support from government and government-driven implementation of the program. Mr R.H. Cook interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Can the member interject in bursts, so I can try to fit in between them, rather than interjecting constantly? We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Mr R.H. Cook interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : Can the member interject in bursts, so I can try to fit in between them, rather than interjecting constantly? We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Can the member interject in bursts, so I can try to fit in between them, rather than interjecting constantly? We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
We are obviously very pleased as the government that initiated this program to see that the other states will, as part of the national negotiation, be following our lead. This is driven to a large extent by health ministers in other states, who have been looking at our program, what it has achieved and how it has been operating since its introduction. We have seen a huge improvement in the way hospitals function through the introduction of the four-hour rule. I have to say, though, that in the first part of the negotiations with the commonwealth government, inadequate money was being put forward. I assume that that has been rectified. The system that was initially proposed by the commonwealth government is not likely to work. It is being implemented over a long time frame—four years, as opposed to two years in Western Australia—but it is being implemented according to categories; category 1 in the first year, and so on until category 4 in the fourth year. That system will not work, because it requires a total change in management at the hospital level. It is not a problem for the emergency departments; it is a whole-of-hospital problem. In fact, it presents more of a problem for the discharge of patients than it does for the admission of patients. However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
However, since this has been introduced, we have seen a dramatic improvement in the way our hospitals operate. I was very pleased to take the media to Royal Perth Hospital recently to see a corridor that two or three years ago would have been filled with emergency patients on trolleys desperately waiting for a bed. In many cases, more than 50 per cent of people were waiting for hours. Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The member for Collie–Preston talks about patients dying; indeed they were—he has got it exactly right. Patients were dying while waiting for admission to hospitals under the old system. A study was carried out that revealed that approximately 120 patients died needlessly each year as a result of delays in emergency department admissions. There has been a massive reduction in waiting times across tertiary hospitals—fewer than 15 per cent or 16 per cent now wait for more than eight hours. Obviously, as the system is further put in place, that percentage will continue to improve. There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
There has been a huge reduction in ambulance ramping; although it is not yet at the level it needs to be, there has been a large reduction in ramping times. We no longer see long queues of ambulances waiting to get into emergency departments. We did not quite hit the target of 85 per cent, but we deliberately set the target high so that it was almost impossible to reach. Fremantle Hospital is now up to 79 per cent; Royal Perth Hospital is up to 75 per cent; and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is lacking a bit at 57 per cent, but I understand that it is peaking very quickly and moving very rapidly to the level it needs to be. The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
The interesting thing we find is that when we talk to doctors and nurses in hospitals, they are very happy with the changes that have been put in place. It is revolutionising the way hospitals have traditionally operated in the past. The North Metropolitan Health Service has a computer that can see what is happening in every hospital, and it carried out a snapshot the day after Easter, which is traditionally a terrible day for hospital admissions. The head of the NMHS said that in the past there would be 40 patients in each of the tertiary hospitals—120 patients in total—sitting on couches waiting for a bed. On the Tuesday after Easter, the computer revealed that across the three tertiary hospitals, 10 patients in total were waiting for a bed in the emergency departments. There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
There has been a massive improvement and we are very proud of it. We look forward to those continued improvements progressing in hospitals. We also look forward to the other states and territories coming to Western Australia to look at what we are doing so that they can copy the great work that is being done here.
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