A new State Government sub-committee aims to deliver a new era of health for Western Australians.
Following on from last week’s Cabinet reshuffle, which saw the responsibility for health divided across multiple portfolios and ministers, the State Government has provided a framework for how the arrangement would work.
New Health Minister Meredith Hammat will chair a newly formed Cabinet sub-committee of her fellow ministers to oversee what the government is calling a “team approach” to the delivery of public health in WA.
Ministers John Carey, Simone McGurk, Sabine Winton and Stephen Dawson will also be part of the committee.
The government has high hopes for its new look approach to health, stating that the government’s vision was “for Western Australia to be the healthiest state in the nation”.
As Health Minister, Ms Hammat will have responsibility for the operational aspects of public hospitals and ambulance services.
She also holds the mental health portfolio, under which capacity she will be working alongside Preventative Health Minister Winton towards the goal of improving the wellbeing of Western Australians and reducing demand on public hospitals over the long-term.
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Minister Carey’s health infrastructure role will see him responsible for driving the delivery of new capacity in WA’s health system.
The new Women’s and Babies Hospital project and works at Osborne Park and Perth Children’s Hospital will sit within his portfolio, as well as emergency department upgrades at Royal Perth and Midland as well as major redevelopments at regional health facilities.
As part of the sub-committee, Aged Care and Seniors Minister McGurk will be expected to work with the Federal Government to deliver more aged care places and free up beds in WA hospitals, while Medical Research Minister Dawson will focus on positioning WA as a leader in the sector.
Premier Roger Cook said WA having the fastest growing population in the nation created challenges in areas such as health.
“This is about improving the health and wellbeing of Western Australians, to reduce demand on our public health system over time, while ensuring that our emergency departments and hospitals have the capacity they need to provide care for Western Australians when they need it,” he said.
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Ms Hammat said the sub-committee would deliver a new era for health for WA.
“This bold approach will enable fresh, proactive and collaborative thinking that will boost how we deal with challenges in health and deliver services and infrastructure in a new and innovative way that benefits our community”.
AMA(WA) President Dr Michael Page told Medical Forum the sub-committee seemed like a sensible idea, but we would have to wait and see what results it can deliver.
“It would be a bit rich of us to call for huge investment in health, but not support government’s attempts to spread that workload around its cabinet, so it does make sense,” he said.
“I guess we just need to wait and see how functional that subcommittee is.”
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