WA Health crisis: Hospital bosses warn ‘substantial’ investment needed as reports confirm preventable deaths

Doctors say a severe flu season does not excuse the deadly impact of WA’s hospital squeeze, as more patients in “life-threatening” condition are left to wait. Documents tabled in State Parliament on Wednesday confirmed a total of 91 deaths, among 467 reported SAC1 incidents last financial year. “We need more beds. We need more hospitals. Otherwise, this is not a seasonal flu problem,” AMA State president Kyle Hoath said. “The ageing population is having a bigger impact than the flu and that’s something that is concerning for us, because it’s not going anywhere. “We’ve attempted to plan for it, but it hasn’t been adequate.” He also warned patients are “sicker” on arrival at ED. Across both the North Metropolitan and East Metropolitan Health Services, it was revealed that triage response times failed the target in four out of five categories. Only 61.3 per cent of category two patients, described as “imminently life threatening,” were seen within the recommended 10 minutes at EMHS emergency departments that includes Royal Perth, St John of God Midland and Armadale. Category two includes acute strokes, suspected heart-related chest pain and severe respiratory distress. “Potentially” life threatening conditions, triaged as category three, fared even worse with just 13.1 per cent of patients seen within the recommended time frame - more than 60 per cent below national standards. In its annual report, EMHS admitted the KPI performance “deteriorated” and blamed “ongoing demand pressures, both on their Emergency Departments as well as inpatient beds”. There was also a spike in SAC1 incidents across EMHS, which takes in Royal Perth, Bentley, St John of God Midland, Armadale and Kalamunda hospitals. Of the 103 incidents reported, there were 72 instances of serious harm and 26 deaths - up from 20 last financial year. It means one in four serious incidents resulted in death. Statewide, the Health Department said both deaths and SAC1 incidents were “slightly” less than the previous year, with 467 notifications compared to 520. “This was in a time when WA’s public hospitals were incredibly busy with 696,389 patient admissions,” a WA Health spokesman said. The North Metropolitan Health Service declared “ageing infrastructure” a significant challenge in its annual report, two months after the Cook Government announced a $50 million urgent maintenance fund in the wake of The West Australian’s investigation into leaking pipes and mould at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. “Substantial investment is required to maintain and upgrade existing NMHS infrastructure and assets, to ensure fit-for-purpose and safe facilities,” the report said. Roger Cook said hospitals are “under pressure” but insisted even WA’s record ramping of 7000 hours per month in July, August and September is “the best numbers in the country.” “There is a lot we can point to in relation to the health system where it’s continuing to work well,” the Premier said. “We know that there are challenges. Every health system is under challenges in Australia at the moment and, because of that, we have record investment in our health care system.” But Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said the Government has been caught out. “They keep saying we have the strongest economy in the nation, yet we have hospitals that are crumbling,” he said. “The public of Western Australia have had enough of it. They’ve had enough of their excuses, their flimsy excuses. And they’ve had enough of this Government being caught out either by the Opposition or the media and only then delivering some relief.” Wait times were also too long at Perth Children’s Hospital, but were better than last year - according to the Child and Adolescence Health Service’s annual report. More than a quarter of category three elective surgery patients had to wait longer than the 365-day target. In the ED, just 27.2 per cent of “potentially life threatening” category three patients were seen within the 30 minute time limit, well below the 75 per cent target.