STANDING COMMITTEE ON
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION —DELIVERY OF AMBULANCE SERVICES IN WESTERN
AUSTRALIA: CRITICAL CONDITION
326. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Delivery of ambulance
services in Western Australia: Critical condition report tabled today in
the Legislative Council and a finding, which I quote, ''increased
ramping has contributed to St John Ambulance WA's inability to comply
with their target response times''.
(1) Does the minister accept this finding and the fact
that underinvestment in our hospitals under her government has led to a catastrophic
increase in ambulance ramping that took nearly five ambulances off WA roads every
day in 2020–21?
(2) Does the
minister agree with the United Workers Union national ambulance coordinator,
Fiona Scalon, that St John's ambulance has dropped the ball and that
ambulance services should be run as an essential service by government?
Ms A.
SANDERSON replied:
(1)–(2) I
accept that ambulance ramping has contributed to St John not being able to meet
all of its response time. I have not had an opportunity to read the report from
cover to cover because it was tabled four hours ago and we are dealing with a COVID
response right now. In terms of a formal response, the government will give the
committee due respect and consideration and will respond in the appropriate
time frame. I will not make any formal response on any of the actual
recommendations.
From
some of the findings that I have seen, there are a range of findings around St
John's. You cannot take one
piece of the report out of context. I do not in any way whatsoever accept the
Leader of the Opposition's assertion that we have underfunded
the health system. That is simply wrong! Under this government, the budget for
the health system has increased every single year. Since 2017, it has increased
every single year. In the last budget, we saw a $680 million uplift in business
as usual, as well as $251 million for the emergency
access department as well as $30 million for country paramedics, as well as
significant investment in our mental health system. The figures do not
lie, Leader of the Opposition. This is a record investment in our health system
of $3.6 billion in infrastructure alone. It is absolutely wrong that this
government has underinvested in the system. Since we were elected, the budget
has increased by 30 per cent.