WA Premier Mark McGowan has defended the state’s hospital system amid a steady flow of complaints and concerns being leaked by doctors and nurses.
Key points:
- The Premier described the death of Aishwarya Aswath as a “terrible tragedy”
- He had previously been told staffing levels were adequate at the time she died
- Mr McGowan defended WA’s hospital system, which he said was under “huge pressure”
His comments follow the release of emails from staff at Perth Children’s Hospital indicating the facility is continuing to battle staff shortages in wards, intensive care units and in the emergency department.
Despite this, Mr McGowan has insisted Western Australia has a “world-class health system”.
“It’s one of the very best in the world run by very, very committed and very highly capable and qualified people,” he said.
“We have huge pressure at the moment, we’ve now got this new virus, the RSV virus [respiratory syncytial virus] which is impacting lots of children.
“We still have lots of staff furloughed, we’ve had trouble recruiting from overseas because of border closures, in terms of nursing and medical staff.”
While RSV is not a ‘new’ virus, WA Health has acknowledged it has added pressure to Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) recently with the state recording the second highest peak of RSV in four years.
More concerns raised over PCH
The hospital has been in the spotlight as a coronial inquest was held into the death of seven-year-old Aishwarya Aswath, after she presented to the hospital with sepsis last year.
The inquest heard PCH’s emergency department was critically short-staffed on the night the young girl died in April 2021.
Nurses have told the ABC that staffing remains such an issue that last week they feared there would be another death like that of Aishwarya.
“I respect the staff and I want them to continue to do the great job that they’re doing, and that’s why we’re providing them with additional resources and additional staff in the ED and throughout the hospital,” Mr McGowan said.
“But we have actually expanded the number of staff in the system and in particular at the children’s hospital to cope, but this is a problem that is occurring all over Australia.”
The Premier said there had been difficultly recruiting staff from overseas due to closed borders but suggested that hospitals in New South Wales and Victoria were under even greater pressure.
“These things are all creating a bit of a perfect storm out there that is common across Australia, but our staff are doing their very best to cope with a difficult situation,” he said.
Blame shifted to primary care system
Mr McGowan also blamed failures in the Commonwealth-run primary care system.
He said people were turning to hospital emergency departments because of a reduction in bulk-billing among general practitioners and some practices refusing to see respiratory patients.
“I think what is a large part of the problem, is the relationship between the Commonwealth health system and the state health system,” he said.
“In that, if you want to go to a GP these days, very few bulk-bill and a lot won’t see respiratory cases, therefore people are going into the emergency departments.
“And that is putting pressure on our hospital system, when they actually should be dealt with by a general practitioner.”
The Premier said it was a concern nationally and had been a priority among Premiers during National Cabinet meetings.
McGowan sorry for ‘terrible tragedy’
Mark McGowan also defended his comments in the aftermath of Aishwarya’s death, that PCH had been adequately staffed at the time.
“I received written advice from the Department of Health that the hospital and the emergency department was appropriately staffed, in accordance with its complement, on the night in question,” he said.
“Now, what occurred was a terrible tragedy, we have apologised, and I think everyone is very sorry for what occurred, a terrible situation for the family.
“But that is the advice that I received.
“I speak with the Department of Health all the time, and I haven’t received any other advice from the Department of Health.”
Last week the Opposition called for a Royal Commission into WA’s Health system.
The government accused it of “politicising the issue” and said the coroner’s process should be respected.
