Question On Notice No. 2492 asked in the Legislative Council on 19 September 2019 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Question Directed to the: Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Health
Minister responding: Hon R.H. Cook
Parliament: 40 Session: 1 |
Question
I
refer to Legislative Council question on notice 2346 regarding regional
ambulance ramping data, and I ask:
(a) is
ramping data collected and retained by St John Ambulance;
(b) what
role do public hospitals in Western Australia play in the ramping of ambulances
by refusing to admit patients to the emergency department;
(c) whether
the contract between the State and St John Ambulance requires the provision of
data or not, will the Minister commit to requesting and publishing such data
from St John Ambulance in the same way that metropolitan hospital ramping is
published daily; and
(d) with
respect to metropolitan data which is published daily, who provides this data
to the Department of Health and how does this differ from regional data?
Answered on 24 October 2019
I am advised:
(a) Yes.
(b) Public hospitals do not refuse treatment to any patient who arrives in the Emergency Department regardless of their mode of arrival.
(c) The current contract between the State and St John Ambulance does not require the provision of regional data. However, the Department of Health is currently working with St John Ambulance (SJA) to determine if this can be provided in future.
(d) Metropolitan data is provided by SJA. The provision of data related to ambulance ramping at regional hospitals is currently not available to the Department of Health.