Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Provision needs to be made for improved health services in order to meet the anticipated need arising from the growth in population of Perth's northern coastal suburbs. I fully support the proposal by St John WA seeking federal funding to implement a trial of 10 urgent care centres, which provide an alternative to patients presenting to hospital emergency departments for non-life-threatening conditions. The trial requires $185 million in funding for the initial infrastructure start-up costs, including four years' operating costs, ensuring that patients can continue to be bulk-billed.

Assuming that the trial is successful and becomes normalised, the financial support reduces to $15 million per annum in operating assistance to support all 10 centres per year thereon. With the government's support, the number of St John Urgent Care centres could increase from three to 10, and it will be cost-effective to the government by $200 per patient for the first four years and over $500 per patient thereafter, which will equate to an estimated $800 million saving over 20 years. I urge the Minister for Health to favourably consider the proposal by St John Ambulance WA on its merits.