MIDWIVES — PILBARA
717. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Health:
I refer to an email titled ''Super
urgent shout-out for midwives for the Pilbara'', calling out for
midwives interested in short-term deployment
from 8 November, dated 27 October from the WA health service, which states that
Pilbara midwifery services are at ''imminent risk of service
failure'', and calls for available staff to name their terms. Has this
situation been resolved so parents about to give birth in either Karratha or
Port Hedland can have confidence in our health system?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
I
am not familiar with the email that the member quoted from, but it does reflect
an overall restriction in the workforce that we can attract to our
system. I do not know whether the member has been listening, but the last four
questions to me have been on this subject. It is not surprising that in country
health services, those workforce constraints are felt much more acutely than in
our big metropolitan centres. It is a reality of life that we need to continue
to make sure that we can recruit experienced and new midwives to our services
to make sure that we can continue to provide great health care.