❓ WA Parliament Question on Notice regarding the Winter Strategy 2026, specifically inquiring about the number of additional beds, impact on the state's bed-to-resident ratio, and targets for reaching the national average.

Hospitals—Winter Strategy 202646.Hon Anthony Spagnoloto theparliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:I refer to theWinter Strategy 2026released yesterday by the Minister for Health and the Premier.(1) How many additional beds or bed equivalents will each of the investments and actions listed on page 6 deliver into the public hospital system by April 2026?(2) Will these additional beds increase Western Australia's hospital beds per 1,000 residents to the national average of 2.5 per 1,000?(3) If no to (2), does the government have a target to reach the national average, and if so, by what date?

Hon Pierre Yang replied:I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided by the Minister for Health.(1)–(3) TheWinter Strategy 2026provides funding for at least 200 additional hospital beds for public patient use during winter. It also provides an additional 65 Time2Think aged-care beds. Since 2021, the Cook government has added more than 900 beds to our health system, and our $4.9 billion health infrastructure program is due to deliver significant additional capacity. Hospitals—Winter Strategy 2026