FIONA STANLEY HOSPITAL —
STAFF
239. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I
refer to revelations that Fiona Stanley Hospital staff raised patient safety
and staff burnout issues with management in March this year.
(1) Can the minister update the house on his
investigations into this matter and what actions he has taken, if any?
(2) What is the
minister doing to give the people of Western Australia an assurance that these
ongoing staff concerns will not have an impact on patient care?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for the question. Obviously, any fatigue or stress issues in
relation to our health staff is concerning. Our doctors, nurses and allied
health and support staff are our most valuable assets in the Western Australian health system. As I have
explained before, the health system is under stress and pressure as a result
of increased presentations to our emergency departments and other aspects of
the system, and in terms of the acuity and
the nature of the folk who are presenting to our hospitals. That is putting
pressure on our staff as well. Not
only have they had to deal with the ongoing issues associated with the COVID-19
pandemic—the anxiety that comes with that—but they are
now having to double-down as we move into the post-COVID period in which, as I said,
there is significant pressure on the system.
At
Fiona Stanley Hospital, in particular, there has been a significant increase in
the maternity services that are being
provided there. As I reported to the chamber yesterday, in November 2020, there
were 248 births at Fiona Stanley
Hospital. By May 2021, that number had increased to 331—a significant
increase. Although we had 96.9 FTE in November 2020 and those numbers
increased to over 116 FTE in maternity services, it remains the case that our staff are under pressure. All our health
leads are working to make sure that we can improve the situation by
providing opportunities for staff to recharge and take more leave, including
professional development leave, and making sure that we are continuing to
support them in the workplace. A good example is at the Fiona Stanley maternity
hospital, which, due to unprecedented demand between February and March, initiated a range of improvement projects to ensure
the continued safety of staff and those in the care of Fiona Stanley
Hospital. That included the establishment of a better rostering committee, with
an expression of interest sent to all staff, including frontline staff,
inviting participation on the committee; a rostering review, with human
resources and industrial relations input; an enhanced communication pathway for staff to request annual leave; and a maternity
transformation project. All staff are able to suggest, via a dedicated email,
ideas for maternity improvements, which is ongoing and well subscribed
to. There has been an increase in the number of lactation consultants to
support inpatient and outpatient activity. There are enhanced models of care
and a full analysis of international and evidence-based practices has been
undertaken as a workforce strategy. These models have been implemented. There
has been the implementation of 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, on-call senior
midwifery management to better support junior staff who are working within
those models of care. An employee assistance
program has been reinforced to support staff, and midwifery managers have met
with individuals who are under social and/or family duress to ensure
individualised rostering and workforce support. That is just a small snapshot
of the sorts of programs and initiatives that have been put in place to
continue to support our staff.
As I said, our healthcare workers are
our most important asset. It is at this time, particularly in a time of stress
on our hospital system, that we want to step up and do more to support them in
the workplace.