❓ Question regarding ambulance ramping crisis and assurance of safety under the current minister's program. The minister outlines strategies focusing on frontline input and resource allocation to alleviate pressure on emergency departments.
AnsweredQoN 1093Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Last January the former Minister for Health gave a 10-day ultimatum for people to come up with a response to the emergency crisis and the ramping issue. That failed. How can we be assured that the current minister’s program will in effect ensure greater safety for our community? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
There is no doubt that confidence in our public hospitals is very much determined by the public perception of performance in the emergency departments, by which I mean everything from the ambulance service through to the ability to find beds at the end of the process. The fact that we have got the medical director of Royal Perth Hospital focusing on that now is an indication of two things. The first is the seriousness with which we treat the matter. The second is evidence of the fact that solutions to these problems must come from people on the front line - the doctors and the nurses in the emergency departments. That is why I am talking to them. We are engaged in dialogue with their associations as well as clinicians and nurses. We hope that through this process, which is not foolproof, we can substantially do away with the ramping of ambulances, because it is clearly and demonstrably the case that ambulances need to be on the road, not parked outside accident and emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: As you know, the reason that ambulances are ramped is that patients cannot get into the emergency departments. Ambulances are bypassing Royal Fremantle or Sir Charles Gairdner. Both of those hospitals need a strategy as well, otherwise hospitals will be bypassing Royal Perth and be ramped up at Royal Fremantle. There must be a strategy that deals with all hospitals simultaneously. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I hope they are not ramped at Royal Fremantle, because it is a golf course, but I know what the member means. In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: There is no doubt that confidence in our public hospitals is very much determined by the public perception of performance in the emergency departments, by which I mean everything from the ambulance service through to the ability to find beds at the end of the process. The fact that we have got the medical director of Royal Perth Hospital focusing on that now is an indication of two things. The first is the seriousness with which we treat the matter. The second is evidence of the fact that solutions to these problems must come from people on the front line - the doctors and the nurses in the emergency departments. That is why I am talking to them. We are engaged in dialogue with their associations as well as clinicians and nurses. We hope that through this process, which is not foolproof, we can substantially do away with the ramping of ambulances, because it is clearly and demonstrably the case that ambulances need to be on the road, not parked outside accident and emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: As you know, the reason that ambulances are ramped is that patients cannot get into the emergency departments. Ambulances are bypassing Royal Fremantle or Sir Charles Gairdner. Both of those hospitals need a strategy as well, otherwise hospitals will be bypassing Royal Perth and be ramped up at Royal Fremantle. There must be a strategy that deals with all hospitals simultaneously. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I hope they are not ramped at Royal Fremantle, because it is a golf course, but I know what the member means. In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
There is no doubt that confidence in our public hospitals is very much determined by the public perception of performance in the emergency departments, by which I mean everything from the ambulance service through to the ability to find beds at the end of the process. The fact that we have got the medical director of Royal Perth Hospital focusing on that now is an indication of two things. The first is the seriousness with which we treat the matter. The second is evidence of the fact that solutions to these problems must come from people on the front line - the doctors and the nurses in the emergency departments. That is why I am talking to them. We are engaged in dialogue with their associations as well as clinicians and nurses. We hope that through this process, which is not foolproof, we can substantially do away with the ramping of ambulances, because it is clearly and demonstrably the case that ambulances need to be on the road, not parked outside accident and emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: As you know, the reason that ambulances are ramped is that patients cannot get into the emergency departments. Ambulances are bypassing Royal Fremantle or Sir Charles Gairdner. Both of those hospitals need a strategy as well, otherwise hospitals will be bypassing Royal Perth and be ramped up at Royal Fremantle. There must be a strategy that deals with all hospitals simultaneously. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I hope they are not ramped at Royal Fremantle, because it is a golf course, but I know what the member means. In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr M.F. Board: As you know, the reason that ambulances are ramped is that patients cannot get into the emergency departments. Ambulances are bypassing Royal Fremantle or Sir Charles Gairdner. Both of those hospitals need a strategy as well, otherwise hospitals will be bypassing Royal Perth and be ramped up at Royal Fremantle. There must be a strategy that deals with all hospitals simultaneously. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I hope they are not ramped at Royal Fremantle, because it is a golf course, but I know what the member means. In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I hope they are not ramped at Royal Fremantle, because it is a golf course, but I know what the member means. In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: There is no doubt that confidence in our public hospitals is very much determined by the public perception of performance in the emergency departments, by which I mean everything from the ambulance service through to the ability to find beds at the end of the process. The fact that we have got the medical director of Royal Perth Hospital focusing on that now is an indication of two things. The first is the seriousness with which we treat the matter. The second is evidence of the fact that solutions to these problems must come from people on the front line - the doctors and the nurses in the emergency departments. That is why I am talking to them. We are engaged in dialogue with their associations as well as clinicians and nurses. We hope that through this process, which is not foolproof, we can substantially do away with the ramping of ambulances, because it is clearly and demonstrably the case that ambulances need to be on the road, not parked outside accident and emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: As you know, the reason that ambulances are ramped is that patients cannot get into the emergency departments. Ambulances are bypassing Royal Fremantle or Sir Charles Gairdner. Both of those hospitals need a strategy as well, otherwise hospitals will be bypassing Royal Perth and be ramped up at Royal Fremantle. There must be a strategy that deals with all hospitals simultaneously. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I hope they are not ramped at Royal Fremantle, because it is a golf course, but I know what the member means. In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
There is no doubt that confidence in our public hospitals is very much determined by the public perception of performance in the emergency departments, by which I mean everything from the ambulance service through to the ability to find beds at the end of the process. The fact that we have got the medical director of Royal Perth Hospital focusing on that now is an indication of two things. The first is the seriousness with which we treat the matter. The second is evidence of the fact that solutions to these problems must come from people on the front line - the doctors and the nurses in the emergency departments. That is why I am talking to them. We are engaged in dialogue with their associations as well as clinicians and nurses. We hope that through this process, which is not foolproof, we can substantially do away with the ramping of ambulances, because it is clearly and demonstrably the case that ambulances need to be on the road, not parked outside accident and emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: As you know, the reason that ambulances are ramped is that patients cannot get into the emergency departments. Ambulances are bypassing Royal Fremantle or Sir Charles Gairdner. Both of those hospitals need a strategy as well, otherwise hospitals will be bypassing Royal Perth and be ramped up at Royal Fremantle. There must be a strategy that deals with all hospitals simultaneously. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I hope they are not ramped at Royal Fremantle, because it is a golf course, but I know what the member means. In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr M.F. Board: As you know, the reason that ambulances are ramped is that patients cannot get into the emergency departments. Ambulances are bypassing Royal Fremantle or Sir Charles Gairdner. Both of those hospitals need a strategy as well, otherwise hospitals will be bypassing Royal Perth and be ramped up at Royal Fremantle. There must be a strategy that deals with all hospitals simultaneously. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I hope they are not ramped at Royal Fremantle, because it is a golf course, but I know what the member means. In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I hope they are not ramped at Royal Fremantle, because it is a golf course, but I know what the member means. In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
In consultation with people who are working on the front line, we are determined to make money available to meet the various needs. The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
The member referred to a lack of doctors. The reason we are employing two new doctors in the Swan District Hospital medical ward is to take pressure off the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital by enabling 10 beds to be freed up at Royal Perth Hospital. That is the process involved there. As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
As for trolleys, I am not aware that there is a shortage of trolleys in the emergency departments. Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr M.F. Board: That is what St John’s Ambulance statistics show. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not what I have been told by anyone in the emergency departments or the Department of Health. I am told that once it was an excuse put up for why ramping occurred some time ago. I cannot give an exact date for that, but certainly there is nothing current. More trolleys were required to overcome that problem some years ago. Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr M.F. Board: Are all these beds to be resourced? Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: We must resource them. The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
The SPEAKER: Five questions is probably sufficient. Question time is over.
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.