❓ Mr. Wyatt questions the Treasurer about actions taken to prevent financial losses during the Fiona Stanley Hospital commissioning, given concerns raised with the Under Treasurer. The Treasurer confirms raising concerns with the Health Minister and outlines steps taken to address issues, including external reviews and governance changes.
AnsweredQoN 7Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FIONA
STANLEY HOSPITAL — TREASURER'S COMMENTS
7. Mr B.S. WYATT to the
Treasurer:
I refer to the Treasurer's comments yesterday that
there were significant failures at the Department of Health in the planning and
delivery of services at Fiona Stanley Hospital and that the Treasurer had ''a
number of discussions over an extended period of time about concerns''
with the then Under Treasurer, Tim Marney.
(1) As the
Treasurer allegedly shared concerns with the then Under Treasurer about the
commissioning of the hospital, what did the Treasurer actually do to stop the
loss of tens of millions of dollars?
(2) Did the
Treasurer personally raise his concerns with the Minister for Health to ensure
that everything was being done to avoid delays to the project?
STANLEY HOSPITAL — TREASURER'S COMMENTS
7. Mr B.S. WYATT to the
Treasurer:
I refer to the Treasurer's comments yesterday that
there were significant failures at the Department of Health in the planning and
delivery of services at Fiona Stanley Hospital and that the Treasurer had ''a
number of discussions over an extended period of time about concerns''
with the then Under Treasurer, Tim Marney.
(1) As the
Treasurer allegedly shared concerns with the then Under Treasurer about the
commissioning of the hospital, what did the Treasurer actually do to stop the
loss of tens of millions of dollars?
(2) Did the
Treasurer personally raise his concerns with the Minister for Health to ensure
that everything was being done to avoid delays to the project?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Yes,
I did raise concerns with the Minister for Health. I think we need to
understand that there is no secret that for some time the Under Treasurer,
Treasury, Health and I had concerns in relation to the capacity to deliver the
Fiona Stanley project, not so much in terms of the buildings—this has
been well canvassed—but in terms of the IT structures that the
government had to provide as part of the overall plan at Fiona Stanley Hospital
and in terms of the clinical services planning. It is not new; it has appeared
in the risk statement in midyear reviews and at budget time for some time.
There is nothing new about this. One of the most important things the
government did in this process was to get a team of experts from the United
Kingdom—I cannot remember the name of the hospital in the United
Kingdom; I think it was Birmingham—who came across to Western Australia
and provided an external set of eyes to have a look at the process of the plan.
They too raised some concerns. We also changed the governance structure at
Fiona Stanley Hospital. I can say that I have great confidence in the team that
we have now assembled both in and around this project to deliver it.
The other thing we have done is
apply the learnings out of this process to other major hospitals such as the
new children's hospital. Sure, things have happened during the process
around Fiona Stanley Hospital that we would do differently. Again, I stress the
point that the Premier made: this is an enormously complex project. We would
never move through a project such as this and not make some mistakes that would
have to be corrected next time around, and we have done that. I am very
comfortable with the arrangements that we have in place. The member for Warnbro
can shake his head but I will give him a tip. The corporate knowledge on this
side of Parliament on building and commissioning major hospitals is
significantly greater than the corporate knowledge on the other side because
the Labor Party did not build one. All it did at Fiona Stanley Hospital was put
up a sign, get a contractor with a Tonka toy to push a bit of bush around and
call that a hospital construction. We are very, very comfortable with the fact
that Fiona Stanley Hospital will deliver a world-class piece of health
infrastructure for the people of this state.
I did raise concerns with the Minister for Health. I think we need to
understand that there is no secret that for some time the Under Treasurer,
Treasury, Health and I had concerns in relation to the capacity to deliver the
Fiona Stanley project, not so much in terms of the buildings—this has
been well canvassed—but in terms of the IT structures that the
government had to provide as part of the overall plan at Fiona Stanley Hospital
and in terms of the clinical services planning. It is not new; it has appeared
in the risk statement in midyear reviews and at budget time for some time.
There is nothing new about this. One of the most important things the
government did in this process was to get a team of experts from the United
Kingdom—I cannot remember the name of the hospital in the United
Kingdom; I think it was Birmingham—who came across to Western Australia
and provided an external set of eyes to have a look at the process of the plan.
They too raised some concerns. We also changed the governance structure at
Fiona Stanley Hospital. I can say that I have great confidence in the team that
we have now assembled both in and around this project to deliver it.
The other thing we have done is
apply the learnings out of this process to other major hospitals such as the
new children's hospital. Sure, things have happened during the process
around Fiona Stanley Hospital that we would do differently. Again, I stress the
point that the Premier made: this is an enormously complex project. We would
never move through a project such as this and not make some mistakes that would
have to be corrected next time around, and we have done that. I am very
comfortable with the arrangements that we have in place. The member for Warnbro
can shake his head but I will give him a tip. The corporate knowledge on this
side of Parliament on building and commissioning major hospitals is
significantly greater than the corporate knowledge on the other side because
the Labor Party did not build one. All it did at Fiona Stanley Hospital was put
up a sign, get a contractor with a Tonka toy to push a bit of bush around and
call that a hospital construction. We are very, very comfortable with the fact
that Fiona Stanley Hospital will deliver a world-class piece of health
infrastructure for the people of this state.
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