EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT PRESENTATIONS
362. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
claim in question time last week in which he stated —
We have had a significant increase in
demand—14 per cent in emergency department presentations this year
alone �
I also refer to the comments of Mr
Mark Duncan-Smith, the president of the Australian Medical Association Western Australia, clarifying that, overall, there
has been a three to four per cent increase, which is, in fact, consistent
with yearly trends across the minister's term in government. Given that
COVID-19 has been the scapegoat for the government's failure to address
the health crisis that has been worsening over the last four years, how does
the minister respond to the president of the
AMA Western Australia confirming that it is the government's neglect
that has caused the crisis, not COVID-19?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
There are more parts to that
question than an episode of Home and Away! Let me go through some of
these things. The fact of the matter is that
every health system in this nation and internationally is struggling with a spike
in demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic—whether the
member for Cottesloe likes it or not. I know that that does not fit his
narrative, but that is tough. He cannot come into this place with his
statistics to try to pretend otherwise.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected
The SPEAKER: Member, you have
asked the question and you have held up your chart—if we could just
have the answer from the minister, please.
Mr R.H. COOK: Let me take the
member for Cottesloe through this very slowly because that is clearly the speed
at which he learns. If we compare December 2020 with December 2019, we have had
an increase in presentations of 11.6 per
cent. If we compare January 2019 with January 2021, we have had an increase in
presentations of 10 per cent, and there has been an increase of five per
cent from March 2019 to March 2021, with an increase in April also. Importantly—I
have been saying this now for weeks on end, but the member comes into this
place with the same material and the same accusations and we beat them off day
in day, day out—the fact of the matter is that compared with three
years ago, in 2021, triage 1 is up 10 per cent and triage 2 is up 15 per cent.
These are critically ill patients. These are the people who have an impact upon
the patient flow in hospital EDs. I know it is true to say that if we take the numbers globally, that is the
very high acuity and the very lowest, there has been a modest uptick of
around five per cent between 2019 and 2021. But the fact of the matter remains,
the people coming to our EDs are sicker, and
those presenting with mental health issues are coming with more complex issues.
That has led to the length of episode of care going up and increased the
constraints sitting on our EDs at the moment. Unfortunately, the member for
Vasse cannot be with us this week; we wish her all the very best in her
struggles. Clearly on the weekend, she was able to undertake several
work-related activities when she said that between the last six months of 2019,
pre-COVID, the average number of presentations each month was 80 400, which,
she said, is comparable with the first six months of 2021, in which there were
81 200. Madam Speaker, not only has she got it wrong—the average is 94 219—but
she compared the first half of one year during the summer months with the
second half of another year during the winter months!
Dr J. Krishnan: No homework!
Mr R.H. COOK: No homework at
all—no accuracy and not even a pretence at prosecuting the truth in
relation to this debate. If the member for Cottesloe wishes to stand up again,
we will explain it to him again in very slow sentences, and perhaps we will
produce some charts as well. Hopefully, at one point in the future, he will
actually get it.