HOSPITALS — ICT OUTAGES
759. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question.
How can the WA public have any confidence in the health system the minister
oversees if hospitals are being forced to call internal emergencies and revert
to a system because of these ongoing ICT failures?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
It is not an ongoing ICT issue; it
is an ICT system that is complex and is the most modern in our health system.
The fact that you come in and ask how the public can have confidence, well, if
people listen to you, member, they never would, because you are constantly
undermining —
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
Mr R.H. COOK: Sorry, member,
did you want to interject?
Ms L. Mettam: I said it's
a systemic failure—185 code yellow emergencies.
Mr R.H. COOK: Once again,
Madam Speaker, we see the member for Vasse come in here and make fundamentally
untrue statements in this house to support her commentary in relation to
health.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
Mr R.H. COOK: I just wish
for once —
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
Mr R.H. COOK: I just wish
for once that the member would come into this —
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
North West Central, it is not your question. You have interjected three times.
I am asking you to desist.
Mr R.H. COOK: Member for
North West Central, to be a member of Parliament, you have to have integrity. I
think it is time you found another career, my friend.
Mr V.A. Catania: I've
been here a long time.
Mr R.H. COOK: It is taking
you a long time to find your integrity, I admit. I am not sure you ever brought
any into this place!
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
Mr R.H. COOK: Just be quiet,
member for North West Central. No-one believes a word you say because they know
your reputation.
The SPEAKER: Minister, I have
asked the member for North West Central not to interject any further. However,
you are provoking him, so can you return to the question that you were asked by
the member for Vasse.
Mr R.H. COOK: From time to
time, any organisation will confront ICT issues. This is a situation whereby we
require the hospital to take action to make sure that we can preserve hospital
services and make sure that we keep patients safe. I am very pleased to say
that substantially the ED is steady and is continuing as normal. The ICU is
steady, albeit a bit busy. All the theatres are running as normal, although we
may have to suspend some lists due to downtime procedures because it is all
subject to manual arrangements. Outpatients are working as usual for
face-to-face and telephone consultations, although obviously video
consultations have had to be postponed for today.
The hospital is coping very well, given the challenges that it is having to
face in relation to working on a manual system. On that point, I suspect that people remember the manual system
because they remember when the opposition was in government and it did
not have a digital strategy for our health system at all.