Question On Notice No. 2006 asked in the Legislative Council on 14 March 2019 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Question Directed to the: Parliamentary Secretary representing the Deputy Premier; Minister for Health; Mental Health
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Tabled Paper No: 2713-
View tabled paper
Question
I refer to the seven sub-regions of the WA Country Health Service and with reference to public funded or supported services, and I ask:
(a) what specialist medical services are available in each sub-region by location;
(b) what surgery including elective surgery is available in each sub-region by location;
(c) of those services identified in (a) and (b,) which services are procured and funded by the State Government;
(d) of those services identified in (b), how many services are provided by specialists resident in the sub-region versus visiting specialists;
(e) with respect to visiting specialists identified in (d), please advise the relevant specialty;
(f) what are the related patient waiting times for:
(i) an appointment with a specialist listed by specialty; and; and
(ii) specialist services including surgery listed by specialty;
(g) what are the targets for waiting times for (f)(i) and (f)(ii) listed above; and; and
(h) where waiting times are outside of those targets, what are the main contributing factors to delays in accessing specialist services?
Answered on 16 May 2019
I am advised:
(a)-(b) Please see tabled paper no.
(c) Specialist services as identified in (a) and (b) are funded predominantly by the State Government with Commonwealth Government contribution towards some specialist medical services, for example through the Rural Health Outreach Fund administered by Rural Health West.
(d)-(e) Please see tabled paper no.
(f)(i) Detailed information on wait times for non-admitted services by specialty is not currently available. Extensive work is underway in the Outpatient Reform Project in relation to the collection and reporting of outpatient data.
(f)(ii) Please see tabled paper no.
(g) For (f)(i), patients seen by specialists in the hospital outpatient setting are triaged by medical staff in consultation with general practitioners into three referral priorities depending on clinical urgency:
- Referral priority 1: to be seen within 30 days
- Referral priority 2: to be seen within 90 days
- Referral priority 3: to be seen within 365 days
For (f)(ii), patients requiring elective surgery are triaged by the specialist into three categories depending on clinical urgency:
- Category 1: within 30 days
- Category 2: within 90 days
- Category 3: within 365 days
(h) All patients accessing specialist services are prioritised according to clinical need. The main contributing factors to delays in accessing specialist services include:
- Changes in patient circumstance meaning further investigations are required, other specialist services are required or patients are unable to attend their appointments.
- Service capacity to meet demand.