❓ Ms Mettam questions the Minister for Mental Health about the potential closure of 25 mental health beds at Cockburn Health. The Minister denies closures, stating a ward will become a placement ward, and highlights increased capacity in the south metro area.
AnsweredQoN 158Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Cockburn Health—Mental health beds
158. Ms Libby Mettam to
the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to Fiona
Stanley Hospital Cockburn Health's dedicated 75-bed inpatient mental health
facility.
(1) As per the leaked email from a South
Metropolitan Health Service manager, can the minister confirm that she has authorised
the closure of 25 of those mental health beds from next week as part of the
winter strategy?
(2) Why are these beds being closed when Cockburn
Health's two other wards are full and other patients are on the waitlist for
admission?
158. Ms Libby Mettam to
the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to Fiona
Stanley Hospital Cockburn Health's dedicated 75-bed inpatient mental health
facility.
(1) As per the leaked email from a South
Metropolitan Health Service manager, can the minister confirm that she has authorised
the closure of 25 of those mental health beds from next week as part of the
winter strategy?
(2) Why are these beds being closed when Cockburn
Health's two other wards are full and other patients are on the waitlist for
admission?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the
question. I want to talk about Cockburn Health centre, and I want to be clear
about the work that is going on there. As the member knows, in 2024 we brought
that centre back into public management. It provides important services for women
in the community. It is a safe, supportive and healing environment that meets
the mental health needs of women from across WA. It is a women's-only service,
and it will, of course, remain that way; in fact, I am told that it is
Australia's first public women's-only mental health service that provides
holistic, trauma-informed and recovery-focused inpatient care. It provides a
range of services to members of the community and in addition to those inpatient services, it has a clinic that features a
wellness and recovery centre for outpatient therapies and specialist
consulting suites. Seeing as the member asked about the provision of mental
health support in the southern suburbs, it is a good time to remind people
about the expanding mental health services at Fremantle Hospital.
Mr Adam Hort interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Kalamunda, please do not
interject.
Ms Meredith Hammat: An additional 40 beds will be
brought online in the south metro region and that development is due—
Point of order
Mr Liam Staltari: The member asked a specific
question: Will the government shut 25 mental health beds?
The Speaker: Thank you, member. There is no point of
order for relevance. The minister is responding to the question. Carry on,
minister.
Questions without notice resumed
Ms Meredith Hammat: I am reminding people about the 40
additional beds that will boost inpatient capacity in the south metro area, and
that development—
Mr Lachlan Hunter interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Central Wheatbelt, please do
not interject.
Ms Meredith Hammat: That development is due to open
later this year.
In relation to the
specific question, mental health services at Cockburn Health are not being
closed. There has been a staged opening of that facility and the dedicated
women-only mental health services at Cockburn Health will continue to be
provided across the wards in which they are currently provided. One ward will
become a ward for women who are awaiting placement. Included in that cohort of
patients are older women who are also experiencing challenges. We make no
apologies for ensuring that our focus is on opening every bed that is available
in the system—that is what we want to do. We want to ensure that the
beds in the system are open.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition, you are
muttering at a low level, but I can still hear you and you are being very
disruptive to the minister. Please stop doing it.
Ms Meredith Hammat: We want to make sure that the
capacity in the system matches the demands. That is what we are doing. That is
what I think would be reasonably expected of us as well—to open every
bed and make sure that the beds that are open are available to match the demand
in the system. That is exactly what we are doing in relation to COVID, and we will
continue to look for other ways to ensure that we have maximum capacity in the
system to match the needs in the system.
question. I want to talk about Cockburn Health centre, and I want to be clear
about the work that is going on there. As the member knows, in 2024 we brought
that centre back into public management. It provides important services for women
in the community. It is a safe, supportive and healing environment that meets
the mental health needs of women from across WA. It is a women's-only service,
and it will, of course, remain that way; in fact, I am told that it is
Australia's first public women's-only mental health service that provides
holistic, trauma-informed and recovery-focused inpatient care. It provides a
range of services to members of the community and in addition to those inpatient services, it has a clinic that features a
wellness and recovery centre for outpatient therapies and specialist
consulting suites. Seeing as the member asked about the provision of mental
health support in the southern suburbs, it is a good time to remind people
about the expanding mental health services at Fremantle Hospital.
Mr Adam Hort interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Kalamunda, please do not
interject.
Ms Meredith Hammat: An additional 40 beds will be
brought online in the south metro region and that development is due—
Point of order
Mr Liam Staltari: The member asked a specific
question: Will the government shut 25 mental health beds?
The Speaker: Thank you, member. There is no point of
order for relevance. The minister is responding to the question. Carry on,
minister.
Questions without notice resumed
Ms Meredith Hammat: I am reminding people about the 40
additional beds that will boost inpatient capacity in the south metro area, and
that development—
Mr Lachlan Hunter interjected.
The Speaker: Member for Central Wheatbelt, please do
not interject.
Ms Meredith Hammat: That development is due to open
later this year.
In relation to the
specific question, mental health services at Cockburn Health are not being
closed. There has been a staged opening of that facility and the dedicated
women-only mental health services at Cockburn Health will continue to be
provided across the wards in which they are currently provided. One ward will
become a ward for women who are awaiting placement. Included in that cohort of
patients are older women who are also experiencing challenges. We make no
apologies for ensuring that our focus is on opening every bed that is available
in the system—that is what we want to do. We want to ensure that the
beds in the system are open.
The Speaker: Members of the opposition, you are
muttering at a low level, but I can still hear you and you are being very
disruptive to the minister. Please stop doing it.
Ms Meredith Hammat: We want to make sure that the
capacity in the system matches the demands. That is what we are doing. That is
what I think would be reasonably expected of us as well—to open every
bed and make sure that the beds that are open are available to match the demand
in the system. That is exactly what we are doing in relation to COVID, and we will
continue to look for other ways to ensure that we have maximum capacity in the
system to match the needs in the system.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.