PERTH CHILDREN'S
HOSPITAL — EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT — CODE YELLOW DECLARATION
420. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Health:
I
have a supplementary question. Increased presentations to our hospitals during
the flu season are not unusual. There have been two code yellows in
major hospitals in the last four days. How can the minister continue to claim
that our healthcare system is not in crisis?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
I have said that it is under
pressure. We have always said that. You are the ones who have denied that we
are seeing increased demand. You are the ones who have said, ''No, there's
nothing to see here; it's just that the system, the doctors, the healthcare workers and the nurses who
work on the front line are failing.'' You are the ones who are claiming
that. We are saying that demand is up. We are saying that our category 1
emergency department presentations are up by over 10 per cent on the 2019
figures. We are the ones saying that category 2 ED presentations are up over 15
per cent compared with the 2019 figures. It is hard work, but that is why the
government is prepared to invest in our health system to make sure that we can
respond.