ST JOHN AMBULANCE — SERVICE DELIVERY
305. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question. Can
the minister answer the question: When was he made aware that members of this
committee were considering this? Given ramping for this month now exceeds over
3 500 hours —
Several members interjected.
Ms L. METTAM: Just clarify—just answer the
question. When was the minister made aware?
The SPEAKER: The
supplementary question is just the first part of what the member asked then.
Minister for Health, do you want to respond?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
I was made aware of this when
somebody told me that the committee had tabled its terms of reference in the
upper house. To be perfectly frank, I have not even read the terms of reference
yet, but I am sure that committee will do a good job. That is the business of
the committee. It has nothing to do with me.
I want to put on the record that I think
there was a bit of chatter yesterday, potentially from the corner of the room,
that was put out in the media that somehow this is some sort of smokescreen to
distract from ambulance ramping. It is not.
Ambulance ramping is not caused by ambulances; it is caused by emergency
departments and the availability of beds behind them, which is why we
are expanding our EDs with an extra 95 beds or chairs and expanding our
hospital system by an extra 158 beds, backed up with the biggest recruitment
drive of nurses in the state's history. That is what resolves the ramping issues. Whether a committee in the
upper house that is independent of government wants to undertake an
inquiry of its own making is a matter for that committee.