{"id":74825,"date":"2025-08-17T10:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T10:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/74825\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T10:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T10:35:09","slug":"wa-government-defends-world-class-health-system-after-ramping-hospital-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/74825\/","title":{"rendered":"WA government defends \u2018world-class\u2019 health system after ramping, hospital concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Western Australia’s health system is not in good health, and the signs for the future aren’t much better.<\/p>\n

The state government has spent the week defending its record, particularly around a range of issues at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is reportedly falling apart.<\/p>\n

It’s been the opposition’s near sole focus this week.<\/p>\n

“Will the premier commit to cancelling the Burswood racetrack project and directing those funds to fixing up Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital?” opposition leader Basil Zempilas demanded in parliament on Tuesday, landing a two-for-one blow.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

There have been reports of infrastructure concerns at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. (ABC News: James Carmody)<\/p>\n

The government’s responses were similarly political.<\/p>\n

“[Basil Zempilas] is scaring Western Australians because he sees a small gap of political opportunity here,” Premier Roger Cook responded, saying improvements were underway.<\/p>\n

“We have a $3.2 billion capital investment program to ensure we continue to expand our health system.<\/p>\n

\"Basil<\/p>\n

Basil Zempilas was accused by Premier Roger Cook of scaremongering. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n

“We have provided more funding than ever before.”<\/p>\n

It’s a line often used by government, which usually doesn’t mean a lot, because the combination of inflation and an ever-growing population means spending will almost always increase, even if what’s being delivered remains the same.<\/p>\n

Bleak future<\/p>\n

There are many signs a lot more funding will be required in the future, including from a Health Department report released this week.<\/p>\n

The idea of its ‘Burden of Disease’ analysis is to track changes in not only life expectancy, but also how much of people’s lives are lived in good health \u2014 meaning their impact on the health system is reduced.<\/p>\n

Inside WA’s ‘broken’ health system<\/a><\/p>\n

Jenny Cross says her husband died after a six-month fight for answers.<\/p>\n

The latest report, which looks at data from 2023, found life expectancy was increasing faster than the proportion of people’s lives considered to be lived in good health.<\/p>\n

On average, it said women under 64 and men aged under 60 could expect to have a smaller proportion of their remaining life in good health.<\/p>\n

It suggests without fundamental changes in the health system, the problems facing patients today will only get worse because of ever-increasing demand.<\/p>\n

And there are problems at the moment \u2014 even if the government is not keen to admit them.<\/p>\n

Ambulance ramping<\/p>\n

The amount of time ambulances spend parked outside hospitals waiting to transfer patients is just one symptom of the problem<\/a> \u2014 highlighting when hospitals are at capacity and unable to meet demand.<\/p>\n

Between June 2024 and June 2025 a patient would spend, on average, 20 minutes ramped outside a hospital \u2014 about in line with the averages in previous years.<\/p>\n

This month, the average is closer to 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Patients are spending an average of almost 30 minutes ramped outside WA hospitals this month. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n

“What we want is the premier to drop this ‘world-class’ line,” Australian Medical Association WA president Kyle Hoath said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“We want the premier to acknowledge that there is a problem with our health system, that our hospitals are on their knees, and that we need to work together to fix this.<\/p>\n

“We need investment in our hospitals, not just new beds, but to make sure that our existing hospitals don’t fall to pieces.”<\/p>\n

\"Dr<\/p>\n

\u00a0Kyle Hoath said WA’s hospitals were in need of significant investment. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n

On Thursday, opposition health spokeswoman Libby Mettam used question time to claim the government’s own figures showed it had only added 118 hospital beds in metropolitan Perth between 2018 and May 2025 \u2014 far below the 863 beds it claimed to have added.<\/p>\n

“The number of available beds in the system will change over the course of the day,” Health Minister Meredith Hammat attempted to explain over the opposition’s interjections.<\/p>\n

\"Meredith<\/p>\n

Meredith Hammat defended the state government’s investment in WA’s hospitals. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n

“The reasons it might change, for example, are because a patient has been discharged and that room needs to be cleaned before another patient can use it. It may be that some maintenance is potentially required for one of those beds.<\/p>\n

“This is why the more accurate measure is to count the number of beds that have been added through infrastructure upgrades.”<\/p>\n

A world-class system?<\/p>\n

While a common understanding of the issue might have proved elusive, there was a marked change in language.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the premier told parliament the health system was “world-class” four times.<\/p>\n

The following day, Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey also used the term.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, no ministers used the description.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Carey hasn’t ruled out additional funding for Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. (ABC News: James Carmody)<\/p>\n

“Every minister in every portfolio advocates for more funding,” Carey told reporters that day.<\/p>\n

“I do anticipate that we will have to make further investment in Charlies.”<\/p>\n

But the government is not writing the health system a blank cheque, with Treasurer Rita Saffioti pointing out on Thursday “there’s always unlimited wants, unlimited demand” for taxpayers’ money.<\/p>\n

“And so it’s always trying to make sure you can deliver increased funding and getting improvements,” she said, pointing to $110 million of investment at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital alone.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

The West Australian newspaper has published a series of articles exposing problems in the state’s health system. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n

On the face of it, it’s a fair enough comment for a government to make. Not every funding request it received can be accommodated.<\/p>\n

But it’s a trickier argument to make when the state budget is $2.4 billion in surplus, and the question is whether health spending should be increased.<\/p>\n

Have something to share with the ABC’s WA newsroom?<\/a><\/p>\n

Whether it’s an image, video, story, or tip-off, you can send it to the ABC’s West Australian newsroom here.<\/p>\n

Only six months into this term of government, the opposition has honed in on health as a weak point for the government, and one it will almost certainly continue to prosecute relentlessly.<\/p>\n

It’s a tricky one for the government to counter, given the web of systems and services run by state and federal authorities in an increasingly complex space with no easy answers.<\/p>\n

When the next election is held in 2029, the opposition may well have convinced the public of the severity of problems \u2014 but they’ll have to do a lot more to prove they have the solutions needed to turn things around.<\/p>\n

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