❓ Mr. Zempilas questions the Premier about an elderly patient's poor hospital experience, implying it's the 'new normal'. The Premier denies this, apologises for the incident, and blames demand spikes and privatisation, highlighting government efforts to improve healthcare access.
AnsweredQoN 152Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Hospitals—Government performance—Elsie
Gribben
152. Mr Basil Zempilas to
the Premier:
I refer to the
appalling experience of 88-year-old Elsie Gribben, who was left in a hospital
corridor in Midland last week for 48 hours, in pain, unable to shower and
without dignity. Can the Premier confirm, as he said on Friday, that this is
the new normal for public hospitals under his government?
Gribben
152. Mr Basil Zempilas to
the Premier:
I refer to the
appalling experience of 88-year-old Elsie Gribben, who was left in a hospital
corridor in Midland last week for 48 hours, in pain, unable to shower and
without dignity. Can the Premier confirm, as he said on Friday, that this is
the new normal for public hospitals under his government?
AnswerView source ↗
Mr Speaker, I never
said that. I never said that, and I want to make that perfectly clear. This is
what we see from the opposition. They come in with false premises.
Mr Basil Zempilas: Tell The West !
Mr Roger Cook: I have told everyone. That is not what
we said. What I said was that what we see from time to time is that hospitals,
when they are experiencing a spike in demand, will take a range of measures to
make sure that they can deal with that demand. Someone being in a hospital
corridor for 48 hours is not acceptable, and we apologised for the
inconvenience of the patient and their family, because that is not a good
experience. We want people to have good experiences when they go through our
hospital system. We will obviously investigate the circumstances of that. As the
member will be aware, the hospital was a privatised hospital run by St John of
God. We have asked it to explain the circumstances there. Members opposite will
know that it is a privatised hospital because they privatised it.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Members!
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition! You have asked
the question. Listen to the response. You do not have to like the response, and
if you stop interjecting, then you will get the chance to ask a supplementary
question.
Mr Roger Cook: The fact of the matter is that
hospitals use the opportunity to move patients around to deal with peaks and
demand.
Several members
interjected.
Mr Roger Cook: Forty-eight hours is too long. I have
just said that, Mr Speaker.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Roger Cook: It is not acceptable that someone
receives that sort of experience in a hospital setting. That is why we are
investigating it to find out what the circumstances were in this particular
instance. But we know our hospitals are under pressure. We know that hospitals
are dealing with an increase in demand. We have a growing population and an
ageing—
Several members
interjected.
Mr Roger Cook: We have a growing population and an
ageing population.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition!
Mr Roger Cook: The fact of the matter is that from
time to time, our hospitals will have to deal with peaks in demand. We will not
turn them away. We will do our best to assist them, but 48 hours in a hospital
corridor is not acceptable. But what we will continue to do is to make sure
that people have opportunities to receive health care in a range of different
settings, which is the reason we are working with the federal government on
urgent care clinics.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition!
Mr Roger Cook: It is the reason we have our 1800 Medicare
service, which allows people to be diverted to an appropriate health setting so
they get the appropriate health care that they need.
Mr Adam Hort interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Kalamunda, please do not
interject.
Mr Roger Cook: We have our WA virtual emergency
department, which is diverting many people—hundreds of people—away
from our EDs. It is about capacity; it is about trying to continue to meet the
demand by working with patients to make sure that they have better settings to
receive health care and by making sure that we have an over $4.6 billion
investment program to expand our hospitals. That is the biggest in the state's history
and it is an important part of making sure that we can continue to meet the
needs of WA patients.
I have a final note.
At the last election, there was only one political party that said that it
would commit to expanding Midland Health Campus. That was the WA Labor Party,
and the WA voters backed us by re-electing us.
said that. I never said that, and I want to make that perfectly clear. This is
what we see from the opposition. They come in with false premises.
Mr Basil Zempilas: Tell The West !
Mr Roger Cook: I have told everyone. That is not what
we said. What I said was that what we see from time to time is that hospitals,
when they are experiencing a spike in demand, will take a range of measures to
make sure that they can deal with that demand. Someone being in a hospital
corridor for 48 hours is not acceptable, and we apologised for the
inconvenience of the patient and their family, because that is not a good
experience. We want people to have good experiences when they go through our
hospital system. We will obviously investigate the circumstances of that. As the
member will be aware, the hospital was a privatised hospital run by St John of
God. We have asked it to explain the circumstances there. Members opposite will
know that it is a privatised hospital because they privatised it.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Members!
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition! You have asked
the question. Listen to the response. You do not have to like the response, and
if you stop interjecting, then you will get the chance to ask a supplementary
question.
Mr Roger Cook: The fact of the matter is that
hospitals use the opportunity to move patients around to deal with peaks and
demand.
Several members
interjected.
Mr Roger Cook: Forty-eight hours is too long. I have
just said that, Mr Speaker.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Roger Cook: It is not acceptable that someone
receives that sort of experience in a hospital setting. That is why we are
investigating it to find out what the circumstances were in this particular
instance. But we know our hospitals are under pressure. We know that hospitals
are dealing with an increase in demand. We have a growing population and an
ageing—
Several members
interjected.
Mr Roger Cook: We have a growing population and an
ageing population.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition!
Mr Roger Cook: The fact of the matter is that from
time to time, our hospitals will have to deal with peaks in demand. We will not
turn them away. We will do our best to assist them, but 48 hours in a hospital
corridor is not acceptable. But what we will continue to do is to make sure
that people have opportunities to receive health care in a range of different
settings, which is the reason we are working with the federal government on
urgent care clinics.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition!
Mr Roger Cook: It is the reason we have our 1800 Medicare
service, which allows people to be diverted to an appropriate health setting so
they get the appropriate health care that they need.
Mr Adam Hort interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Kalamunda, please do not
interject.
Mr Roger Cook: We have our WA virtual emergency
department, which is diverting many people—hundreds of people—away
from our EDs. It is about capacity; it is about trying to continue to meet the
demand by working with patients to make sure that they have better settings to
receive health care and by making sure that we have an over $4.6 billion
investment program to expand our hospitals. That is the biggest in the state's history
and it is an important part of making sure that we can continue to meet the
needs of WA patients.
I have a final note.
At the last election, there was only one political party that said that it
would commit to expanding Midland Health Campus. That was the WA Labor Party,
and the WA voters backed us by re-electing us.
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