Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital—Legionella bacteria
356. Mr Adam Hort to the Minister for Health:
I note that in 2021, the Minister for Health at the time, the now Premier, whose birthday it is, stated that he was disappointed he was not informed of test results showing Legionella contaminated water at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
(1) Does the minister receive notifications of Legionella test results that are above the minimum benchmark at public hospitals?
(2) Has the Department of Health or any health service advised the minister of any patients who have received precautionary treatment because of Legionella test results that exceed the minimum benchmark?
Ms Meredith Hammat replied:
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the question. As I have said here before, Legionella is a matter that is managed by our health service providers at a hospital level, as we would expect.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition! The minister is responding.
Ms Meredith Hammat: Therefore, they have programs for the monitoring of Legionella in our hospitals. My expectation is that they will deal with that as an operational issue, and when there are results, they will be managed onsite in accordance with strict guidelines.
Several members interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition, your own member is about to ask a supplementary question and he will be lucky to get it if you keep interjecting before he even gets to ask the question.
357. Mr Adam Hortto theMinister for Health:
I have a supplementary question. Minister, this is a basic barometer of testing how the hospitals are coping. How can the minister not answer these very simple questions about testing in our hospitals?
Ms Meredith Hammat replied:
I have provided information about how the monitoring takes place. The information that I have is that I have been advised that there are no confirmed cases of legionnaire's disease having been acquired at hospitals since 2021.
