Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Since July last year, I have risen five times in this chamber to speak about the McGowan government's failure to address WA's hospital crisis. In the 7½ months since I first spoke, nothing has changed. Ambulance ramping continues to soar, nurses are still working double shifts to make up for staff shortages, and, still, Premier Mark McGowan is slow to listen and slow to act. In a damning report by the AMA, the Peel Health Campus was declared seventh-worst hospital on a list of hundreds across the nation. It found that across Western Australia less than one-quarter of patients at emergency departments were treated in the targeted 30 minutes. The Peel Health Campus fared even worse, with only one in five emergency patients treated on time. This is not a great surprise. Many people in Canning have shared with me their stories of Peel Health Campus and their accounts are appalling: stories of frail, elderly people seeking medical assistance and waiting hours and hours to be assessed; men and women left with bruising on their legs after sitting in hard plastic chairs in ED for hours and hours. Others shared their concerns about ambulance wait times and availability.

Perhaps the most shocking experience is that of Vicky. Vicky called an ambulance after experiencing severe pain. Instead of an ambulance, two police officers arrived to tell her there was a shortage of ambulances and she would need to find her own way to hospital. Vicky desperately phoned family and friends in the early hours of the morning to ask somebody to take her to the hospital. In the meantime, two other police officers arrived to ensure the previous two police officers had shown up. That is right; four police officers arrived at Vicky's home but no ambulance. Another Canning resident who had been diagnosed with stage-4 cancer received a text from her doctor advising her that her blood tests were alarming and to head to the Peel Health Campus immediately for treatment. On arrival she was told there were eight ambulances ramped and she rushed instead to Fiona Stanley Hospital.

The evidence of Premier Mark McGowan's health crisis is right in front of him and there is a real human cost to this. Last year the inquest into seven-year-old Aishwarya's death at Perth Children's Hospital laid bare stories of understaffing and nurses faced with impossible workloads. This should have sparked an overhaul of the health system, but our arrogant Premier is so out of touch that he refuses to take urgent action. My great fear is there will be another tragedy like Aishwarya's.

Last week our office was contacted by Sally, who was desperately searching for a GP or hospital to treat her nine-year-old grandson Carter, whose fever had spiked to over 39 degrees. Sally and her daughter took Carter and waited at Peel Health Campus for over five hours before being told that little Carter was unlikely to be seen and they would be better off trying a GP. None of the local GP clinics contacted by Sally had the capacity to assess and treat Carter. It was only after contacting my team that Sally was able to make an appointment for Carter at a clinic nearly 25 kilometres away.

The time for action is now, before it is too late. The people of the Peel region elected three Labor state members to represent them in 2021 and they remain silent. David Templeman, a longstanding and completely ineffective state cabinet minister continues to ignore the health crisis. The people of Mandurah must be wondering what is the use of having him at the cabinet table if he can't close for the people he serves? He is not a closer, and we deserve better. Meanwhile, where are Robyn Clark and Lisa Munday? Both promised to fight for the community yet refuse to acknowledge the hospital crisis staring them in the face.

It is not only WA Labor that has failed Canning. Last week the Prime Minister flew to WA to trumpet funding for urgent-care clinics across the state but not one for Canning where it is needed most.

The truth is Labor has broken the trust of our community. Promise after promise to fix the Peel Health Campus has been made. The state government has been in government for almost six years, but the problems are only getting worse on Labor's watch. I know the terrible stories from my constituents are the tip of the iceberg. This is unacceptable, and the Prime Minister, the WA Premier and every Labor MP in my region know it. Labor promised not to leave anyone behind, but that is exactly what they have done in the Peel region.