Question On Notice No. 1864 asked in the Legislative Council on 12 February 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: 2497-
View tabled paper
Question
I refer to the Laverton Hospital, and I ask with respect to the 2017 and 2018 calendar years:
(a) on how many occasions and for what length of time was a medical doctor not available to provide service to the hospital;
(b) how are medical services procured in Laverton for the provision of medical doctors at the hospital;
(c) for each month in the above mentioned two year period, please provide the number of presentations to the emergency department and the relevant Australian triage score (ATS);
(d) for each month in the above mentioned two year period, please identify the number of occasions that Emergency Telehealth Service (ETS) has been activated for Laverton Hospital;
(e) when was ETS first commissioned at the Laverton Hospital;
(f) for the above mentioned two year period, has there been any critical incidents at the hospital and, if so, please identify the date on which each occurred;
(g) what medical services are provided at the Laverton Hospital and has that changed in any material way during the above mentioned two year period;
(h) when was the last Building Condition Audit (BCA) conducted on the Laverton Hospital;
(i) please table a copy of the audit report;
(j) what is the status of the State Government’s consideration to replace the existing Laverton Hospital;
(k) is a business case being prepared, or has one been prepared, for the hospital replacement and, if so, on what date was the business case commenced and finalised;
(l) what is the annual (financial year) operating cost of the Laverton Hospital;
(m) how many persons are employed or engaged by the hospital by full time equivalent (FTE) and head count;
(n) of those identified in (m) please identify the positions held; and
(o) I refer to the Minister for Regional Development’s view that local mining companies should pay for the hospital upgrade, is that a view which the Minister agrees with and how many companies have committed to such funding?
Answered on 19 March 2019
I am advised:
(a) From 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017, there were 75 days where a doctor was not present in Laverton. The private General Practitioner (GP) service provided an on call doctor service to nurses via the telephone.
From 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018, there were 82 days where a doctor was not present in Laverton. The private General Practitioner (GP) service provided an on call doctor service to nurses via the telephone.
There were 14 consecutive days where there was no doctor available in person in Laverton throughout this time period; however the private GP was contactable by phone. Throughout this time period the Emergency Telehealth Service (ETS) was available during ETS operational hours,
(b) When a private GP commences work in the Laverton Community, if they meet credentialing requirements of WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Goldfields to deliver medical services within the Laverton Hospital, then the hospital can contract them for emergency, inpatient and outpatient services.
(c) Please refer to Table 1.
Table 1*:
|
Month/Year
|
Triage
|
Total
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
|
|
January 2017
|
2
|
11
|
23
|
35
|
80
|
151
|
|
February 2017
|
0
|
4
|
21
|
49
|
52
|
126
|
|
March 2017
|
0
|
8
|
16
|
40
|
58
|
121
|
|
April 2017
|
1
|
10
|
22
|
25
|
44
|
101
|
|
May 2017
|
0
|
10
|
26
|
46
|
34
|
115
|
|
June 2017
|
1
|
10
|
33
|
61
|
41
|
146
|
|
July 2017
|
0
|
5
|
31
|
92
|
39
|
167
|
|
August 2017
|
0
|
3
|
25
|
53
|
22
|
103
|
|
September 2017
|
1
|
2
|
23
|
60
|
55
|
141
|
|
October 2017
|
2
|
9
|
35
|
65
|
52
|
163
|
|
November 2017
|
1
|
12
|
22
|
68
|
37
|
140
|
|
December 2017
|
3
|
6
|
17
|
69
|
53
|
148
|
|
January 2018
|
1
|
10
|
13
|
63
|
57
|
144
|
|
February 2018
|
0
|
7
|
20
|
34
|
28
|
89
|
|
March 2018
|
0
|
3
|
20
|
63
|
27
|
113
|
|
April 2018
|
0
|
6
|
10
|
43
|
48
|
107
|
|
May 2018
|
0
|
5
|
19
|
64
|
48
|
136
|
|
June 2018
|
0
|
4
|
12
|
44
|
28
|
88
|
|
July 2018
|
0
|
1
|
25
|
60
|
39
|
125
|
|
August 2018
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
73
|
30
|
114
|
|
September 2018
|
1
|
10
|
16
|
57
|
16
|
100
|
|
October 2018
|
0
|
6
|
30
|
72
|
33
|
141
|
|
November 2018
|
0
|
10
|
25
|
41
|
36
|
112
|
|
December 2018
|
0
|
16
|
40
|
78
|
60
|
194
|
* Source: Department of Health, Purchasing and System Performance Division
(d) Please refer to Table 2.
Table 2:
|
Month
|
2017
|
2018
|
|
January
|
4
|
17
|
|
February
|
4
|
25
|
|
March
|
7
|
21
|
|
April
|
8
|
19
|
|
May
|
8
|
18
|
|
June
|
10
|
7
|
|
July
|
10
|
17
|
|
August
|
5
|
12
|
|
September
|
9
|
16
|
|
October
|
7
|
12
|
|
November
|
22
|
20
|
|
December
|
25
|
33
|
(e) 18 January 2014.
(f) Please refer to Table 3 for Clinical incidents reported, according to severity assessment criteria.
Table 3:
|
Severity Assessment Code (SAC) Events 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018
|
|
Confirmed SAC
|
Incident Date
|
Incident Classification Tier 1
|
|
SAC 1
|
3 October 2018
|
Therapeutic Process:
Misdiagnosis
|
|
SAC 2
|
6 September 2018
|
Diagnostic Process:
Delayed Assessment
|
|
SAC 2
|
10 October 2018
|
Diagnostic Process:
Insufficient Monitoring
|
|
SAC 3
|
29 October 2018
|
Behaviour:
Absconded
|
|
SAC 3
|
4 November 2018
|
Therapeutic Process:
Insufficient Response to significant change in patient status
|
(g) There has been no change to the following medical services provided at Laverton Hospital for the two year period between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2018:
- Private GP, from the local private General Practice, who has admitting rights and Emergency Department (ED) rights; and
- Visiting Renal Physician.
(h) A Building Condition Audit report was completed in 2013 as part of the planning for Business Case development.
(i) Please see tabled paper no.
(j) – (k) WACHS has finalised the development of a revised business case for the Laverton Health Service, for consideration by Government as part of the 2019/20 Budget process.
(l) Please refer to Table 4.
Table 4:
|
|
FY 2017
|
FY 2018
|
|
Operating Costs
|
$2,585,712
|
$2,575,432
|
(m) Please refer to Table 5.
Table 5:
|
|
2017
|
2018
|
|
FTE
|
16.5
|
15.8
|
|
Headcount
|
65
|
46
|
(n) Please refer to Table 6.
Table 6:
|
|
2017
|
2018
|
|
Position
|
FTE
|
Head Count
|
FTE
|
Head Count
|
|
Nursing
|
9.9
|
40
|
8.9
|
30
|
|
Admin/Clerical
|
2.1
|
7
|
2.2
|
7
|
|
Support Services
|
4.5
|
18
|
4.7
|
9
|
|
Total
|
16.5
|
65
|
15.8
|
46
|
(o) WACHS is not aware of any mining companies who have committed to any funding.