❓ Mr Paolino asks about the Building Hospitals Fund. Ms Hammat outlines investments in health, new beds, and the acquisition of St John of God Mt Lawley as a public hospital, amidst interruptions.
AnsweredQoN 209Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Building Hospitals Fund
209. Mr Frank Paolino to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's Building Hospitals Fund announcement and commitment to
delivering the care Western Australians need when they need it. Can the
minister please outline to the house how this fund will enable the delivery of
expanded public health services?
209. Mr Frank Paolino to
the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's Building Hospitals Fund announcement and commitment to
delivering the care Western Australians need when they need it. Can the
minister please outline to the house how this fund will enable the delivery of
expanded public health services?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member
for his question and for his interest.
We have heard
already from the Minister for Health Infrastructure in question time today
about how the record population growth that we are experiencing in Western
Australia, along with an ageing population, means that we are responding with
record investments in our health system.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition!
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: Because it is a record investment
in our health system, and we are incredibly proud of the work that we are doing,
and as the—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, please stop
interjecting.
Ms Meredith Hammat: That is right; we are incredibly
proud of the work that we are doing. As the Minister for Health Infrastructure
outlined in the answer to an earlier question, this week we have been out
talking about the work we are doing ahead of the state budget next month. Our
Building Hospitals Fund now includes $2 billion to allow and support us to
deliver that significant increase in our hospital capacity in coming years.
The Minister for
Health Infrastructure outlined the long list of hospital redevelopments and new
hospitals happening across the state. The member for Vasse always says, "Where
is the new hospital?" We have—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse.
Ms Meredith Hammat: The problem with opposition
members is that they do not listen to answers to questions. We are very proud
of our record in adding additional beds to the health system since 2021.
Ms Libby Mettam: How many beds?
Ms Meredith Hammat: It is over 900 beds, member.
We have tabled that number of beds, hospital by hospital, but the member for
Vasse continues to pretend that they do not exist. She continues to pretend
that they do not exist because she is lazy, because she is uninterested—
Several members
interjected.
Withdrawal of remark
The Speaker: Minister, please withdraw that.
Ms Meredith Hammat: I withdraw that.
Questions without notice resumed
Ms Meredith Hammat: Again, I make the point that the
material has been tabled, yet opposition members continue to deny the evidence
of the material that we have already tabled in this Parliament outlining the
additional beds we have put in the system. They want to pretend it does not
exist, the same as they want to pretend that the work that we are doing to
build additional capacity in the whole system does not exist because it is an
inconvenient truth for them.
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, I am calling you for
the first time. I have asked you multiple times to stop interjecting.
Ms Meredith Hammat: We are getting on with the job of
building the capacity in our health system.
In a few months, as
the member knows, St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital will become a public
hospital. We look forward to bringing the hospital into public hands, and we
look forward to welcoming healthcare workers who have worked there into our
public system. This hospital, of course, has been a private hospital throughout
its life, and as part of St John of God building its new private facility at
Midland—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: —we are purchasing the hospital
and bringing it into the system as a public hospital available to the community
in Western Australia.
Through our Winter
Strategy, we have already put on more than 50 additional beds for public
patients at Mount Lawley, and we are already seeing the improvements that is
bringing. We will continue to look at all the other things we need to. That
hospital is making a significant difference in the short term, and it will in
the long term as well. It will add over 100 additional beds into our
public system, on top of those we have contracted for some time, and it will
bring eight operating theatres into our public system.
The other work that
we are doing that is incredibly important is the commissioning work for the new
hospitals and redevelopments that we are bringing online. Yesterday, we also
announced a more than $36 million investment in a central commissioning office.
This is a really important task. We know this is an important thing to do,
because we want to make sure that, as we bring those 900 additional beds
online, we are ready to use them. If we build the infrastructure, we are ready
to go. There are no soft launches with a hospital. It has to be ready to take
patients from day one. That is why the
commissioning task is so important. It is easy to look back and see what
happens when a government does not take commissioning seriously. Look at
what the Liberal–National government did.
Several members
interjected.
Ms Meredith Hammat: It could not open the Perth
Children's Hospital—could not bring it online—so it sat there, built and unused,
because that government did not take the process seriously. Do not take my word
for it. There are public reports available that detail that, and I recommend
the opposition reads them for itself. The Liberal–National government built
hospitals and left them there unused, and it took a Labor government to open
that Perth Children's Hospital.
We want to make sure
that the infrastructure we are building is brought online as quickly as
possible, which is why we are putting in place the central commissioning
office. We want those hospitals built, and the work that the Minister for
Health Infrastructure is doing with all of this government is showing our
commitment to getting those hospitals built. We will make sure that those beds
are commissioned and brought online. We are going to continue to do the
important work of significantly expanding the capacity of our hospital system.
The Speaker: The member for Cottesloe has the last
question.
for his question and for his interest.
We have heard
already from the Minister for Health Infrastructure in question time today
about how the record population growth that we are experiencing in Western
Australia, along with an ageing population, means that we are responding with
record investments in our health system.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition!
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: Because it is a record investment
in our health system, and we are incredibly proud of the work that we are doing,
and as the—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, please stop
interjecting.
Ms Meredith Hammat: That is right; we are incredibly
proud of the work that we are doing. As the Minister for Health Infrastructure
outlined in the answer to an earlier question, this week we have been out
talking about the work we are doing ahead of the state budget next month. Our
Building Hospitals Fund now includes $2 billion to allow and support us to
deliver that significant increase in our hospital capacity in coming years.
The Minister for
Health Infrastructure outlined the long list of hospital redevelopments and new
hospitals happening across the state. The member for Vasse always says, "Where
is the new hospital?" We have—
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse.
Ms Meredith Hammat: The problem with opposition
members is that they do not listen to answers to questions. We are very proud
of our record in adding additional beds to the health system since 2021.
Ms Libby Mettam: How many beds?
Ms Meredith Hammat: It is over 900 beds, member.
We have tabled that number of beds, hospital by hospital, but the member for
Vasse continues to pretend that they do not exist. She continues to pretend
that they do not exist because she is lazy, because she is uninterested—
Several members
interjected.
Withdrawal of remark
The Speaker: Minister, please withdraw that.
Ms Meredith Hammat: I withdraw that.
Questions without notice resumed
Ms Meredith Hammat: Again, I make the point that the
material has been tabled, yet opposition members continue to deny the evidence
of the material that we have already tabled in this Parliament outlining the
additional beds we have put in the system. They want to pretend it does not
exist, the same as they want to pretend that the work that we are doing to
build additional capacity in the whole system does not exist because it is an
inconvenient truth for them.
Ms Libby Mettam interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Vasse, I am calling you for
the first time. I have asked you multiple times to stop interjecting.
Ms Meredith Hammat: We are getting on with the job of
building the capacity in our health system.
In a few months, as
the member knows, St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital will become a public
hospital. We look forward to bringing the hospital into public hands, and we
look forward to welcoming healthcare workers who have worked there into our
public system. This hospital, of course, has been a private hospital throughout
its life, and as part of St John of God building its new private facility at
Midland—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Ms Meredith Hammat: —we are purchasing the hospital
and bringing it into the system as a public hospital available to the community
in Western Australia.
Through our Winter
Strategy, we have already put on more than 50 additional beds for public
patients at Mount Lawley, and we are already seeing the improvements that is
bringing. We will continue to look at all the other things we need to. That
hospital is making a significant difference in the short term, and it will in
the long term as well. It will add over 100 additional beds into our
public system, on top of those we have contracted for some time, and it will
bring eight operating theatres into our public system.
The other work that
we are doing that is incredibly important is the commissioning work for the new
hospitals and redevelopments that we are bringing online. Yesterday, we also
announced a more than $36 million investment in a central commissioning office.
This is a really important task. We know this is an important thing to do,
because we want to make sure that, as we bring those 900 additional beds
online, we are ready to use them. If we build the infrastructure, we are ready
to go. There are no soft launches with a hospital. It has to be ready to take
patients from day one. That is why the
commissioning task is so important. It is easy to look back and see what
happens when a government does not take commissioning seriously. Look at
what the Liberal–National government did.
Several members
interjected.
Ms Meredith Hammat: It could not open the Perth
Children's Hospital—could not bring it online—so it sat there, built and unused,
because that government did not take the process seriously. Do not take my word
for it. There are public reports available that detail that, and I recommend
the opposition reads them for itself. The Liberal–National government built
hospitals and left them there unused, and it took a Labor government to open
that Perth Children's Hospital.
We want to make sure
that the infrastructure we are building is brought online as quickly as
possible, which is why we are putting in place the central commissioning
office. We want those hospitals built, and the work that the Minister for
Health Infrastructure is doing with all of this government is showing our
commitment to getting those hospitals built. We will make sure that those beds
are commissioned and brought online. We are going to continue to do the
important work of significantly expanding the capacity of our hospital system.
The Speaker: The member for Cottesloe has the last
question.
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