Hospital beds
252. Mr Basil Zempilasto theMinister for Health:
I refer to the government's claim that it has added an additional 800 hospital beds over the past four years. Why has the minister been unable to provide a breakdown of which hospitals contain the additional 800 beds?Ms Meredith Hammat replied:
Thank you very much for the question; it is well-timed because it is an opportunity to tell the member that this morning, the Minister for Health Infrastructure and I were at Joondalup Health Campus to open an additional 46 beds, along with new surgeries. Of course, we were there just last week to announce funding in the budget of $24 million to open an additional 60 beds in that hospital. As I have said before in this place, we have been looking at every way to increase the capacity of our hospitals. We have been working on how we can make sure that we have additional capacity in our hospital system.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition, you have asked the question; let the minister respond.
Ms Meredith Hammat: We have been working to make sure we have additional capacity in our hospital system. One of the things about that is that it is not all about hospital beds. I have spoken in this place before about our commitment to expand our virtual emergency departments. I have talked about the work we are doing to put in place the State Health Operations Centre to better coordinate our work across the hospital system. Two or three weeks ago, we were in Murdoch to sign the contract to build the new women's and babies' hospital, which is a major piece of infrastructure and one that we are very excited about as part of our plan for maternity services. As part of that, as the member knows, we are delivering expanded maternity services at Osborne Park Hospital. Since I have been the Minister for Health, I have attended the emergency department of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital to talk about the work that is happening there. Of course, we are very excited to fulfil our election commitments to expand the EDs at Midland Health Campus and Royal Perth Hospital.
We are always working on ways to increase the capacity across our system. I also mention that part of our focus is on increasing the capacity to remove older patients from hospitals, which is not the best place for them, but they are there because there is no alternative setting where they can receive appropriate care. We have been putting a lot of work into making sure that people in our hospitals who would be better placed getting care in an alternative setting also have access to the beds that they need to receive care.
Member, we will keep looking at all the things that we can do to increase not only bed capacity, but also capacity right across the system to make sure that people get the care they need.
253. Mr Basil Zempilasto theMinister for Health:
I have a supplementary question. Why has the government said both in Parliament and in public that there are 800 additional hospital beds when, in reality, it is counting a bed in someone's home or in the cloud?
Ms Meredith Hammat replied:
I am not sure what the member means by beds in the cloud, but we are very excited about the work that we are doing to increase Hospital in the Home. This is a way that people can get the appropriate care they need close to home. We are very proud of the work we are doing to expand Hospital in the Home. This is something that is happening all around Australia and delivering very good results. People often prefer to get care in the home.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Once again, Leader of the Opposition, you have asked the question and the minister is responding. Carry on, minister.
Ms Meredith Hammat: We are very proud of the work that we are doing to expand Hospital in the Home. This is something that is happening all around Australia. It recognises that the way people can receive the health care they need is changing. People often get better outcomes when they receive care in a home setting rather than being in a hospital, which is not always the best setting for them. I have said before—I will say it again—that we are looking at all the things that we can do in the health system to make sure we have the capacity for people to get the care that they need close to home and in the community. We will keep doing all those things and everything else that we need to do to make sure that people have access to the health care they need.
