NURSING POSTS —
CUE
704. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Cue Nursing Post,
which has been under-resourced for several years and is now under intense
pressure due to the increased visitations from Western Australians only being
able to holiday at home.
(1) Given that
the minister has previously acknowledged the resourcing deficiencies at Cue
Nursing Post in a letter written 12 months
ago, why has no action been taken to rectify the matter of not having a full-time
nurse present?
(2) Will the
minister provide immediate additional resources for the Cue Nursing Post to
support the staff and St John Ambulance volunteers who are stretched thin,
burnt out and struggling to meet community and visitor demand?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
I thank the member for the
question.
(1)–(2) It
is true that our single nursing posts are a passing issue for the health
system. They are not optimal and we are in the process of transforming them
into more appropriate, multipurpose service facilities. The Cue, Yalgoo and Sandstone single-nurse posts are
occasionally required to close due to staff unavailability or fatigue
management. We are constantly monitoring each of the nursing posts,
particularly in places such as Coral Bay that has a large number of visitors at
the moment, to examine the need for any extra resources. I would be happy to
provide the member with a more detailed response to give him more specific
information.