DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH —
ST JOHN AMBULANCE CONTRACT
732. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the St John Ambulance WA
contract that expired on 30 June 2020.
(1) When is the contract with SJA
due to be finalised, considering it is now six weeks overdue?
(2) Will the
minister prioritise additional funding to boost community paramedics and
patient transport capability in regional areas?
(3) What assistance will the government provide to SJA
in boosting its capability during the state of emergency and to better
support employees and volunteers in its service?
(4) Will the
government now require SJA to report on ramping of ambulances at regional
hospitals on a daily basis as it does in the metropolitan area?
Hon ALANNA
CLOHESY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) The
Department of Health and St John Ambulance have agreed on an extension of the
service agreement until 30 September 2020. This is to allow both parties to
finalise negotiations on the service agreement to be in place from 1 October
2020 to 30 June 2022.
(2) The
Department of Health is currently in active contract negotiations with St John
Ambulance and, as such, it is not appropriate to provide comment until these
processes are completed.
(3) When
additional services have been required as part of the state of emergency,
funding has been provided to St John Ambulance outside of the current contract
arrangements.
(4) No.