WA’s hospital crisis hits a new high, but Roger Cook says other states worse off

WA has again broken the record for the number of hours ambulances spent stranded outside hospitals with patients on board. St John WA figures show ambulances spent a record 7074 hours ramped outside hospitals, unable to hand over patients, in August despite the cancellation of dozens of elective surgeries to free up beds. Roger Cook has blamed an “unprecedented flu season” for another record — but the Opposition says it’s proof a “merry-go-round” of Health Ministers has failed. Mr Cook said States across Australia are experiencing the same problem. “Right across Australia at the moment, you see hospital systems everywhere gripped by an increase in demand as a result of the winter flu season,” he said at a press conference in Bunbury. “WA’s system is better placed than most because of the investments that were made in the hospital system, but it’s still tough, and we acknowledge that. “We don’t like to see people having to wait longer than they should in our hospitals to get the care they need.” Health Minister Meredith Hammat refused to call the ramping record a crisis, as she joined the Premier to announce the start of ground works on a $471 million redevelopment of Bunbury Regional Hospital. The upgrade is due to be completed by 2029 and will include more than 100 extra emergency department beds, but was dismissed by the Opposition as not good enough. “That’s not going to fix ambulance ramping at Royal Perth Hospital or Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital,” Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said. “Earlier this morning, the wait time for category two emergencies, people with broken arms and legs and the like, was 10 hours. “That’s not good enough. That is not acceptable.” The Government has also promised major upgrades of the ED’s at St John of God Midland and Royal Perth Hospital, but only $10 million was allocated for planning in this year’s Budget. The Opposition has called for $217 million allocated to a Burswood amphitheatre and racetrack to be diverted to fast-track hospital infrastructure. And Mr Zempilas urged the Premier to abandon the Cabinet overhaul that split responsibility for Health between five ministers. “It is clear that it is not working,” he said. “What is the Preventative Health Minister doing if the winter flu season is being blamed for what is happening in our hospitals? What is the Health Minister doing? What is the Health Infrastructure Minister doing today to fix this? “They can’t keep saying it’s been a bad season, we didn’t see it coming. Everybody in WA has seen the deteriorating health of our hospitals, except the Government.” The number of people hospitalised with the flu is 62 per cent higher this year, than the five-year average. But the latest Australian Respiratory Surveillance Report released on Monday shows WA’s notification rate of 717 cases per 100,000 population remains the lowest of all states and territories. Ms Hammat said the health system has been responding to a record number of triple zero calls, and a growing number of elderly patients fit to be discharged but with no available aged care. She said virtual care has been expanded, and more urgent care clinics are taking some of “It’s been a very difficult winter, we’ve seen unprecedented demand,” she said. “We’ve got a range of initiatives that we’re implementing and WA is experiencing the same peaks that other states have seen, so we’ll keep working on the work that we’re doing and we’ll keep looking at ways we can do more.” Ramping hit a record of 5,866 hours in South Australia in July, with a population of 1.8 million compared to WA’s three million. But Mr Zempilas said WA can afford to do better. “This is a tremendously wealthy state, this State Government has been the beneficiary of massive surpluses, they have been awash with money, but where has that money gone,” he said. Ambulance response times have not met St John WA targets since August 2020. Health Department figures show that Tuesday was the busiest day last week, when 2,867 people attended hospital EDs and the median wait time blew out to almost 90 minutes for “urgent” triage three patients.