The McGowan Government has announced 20 new beds and additional staff to deal with the increase in presentations to the emergency department at Perth Children’s Hospital.
The demand and workforce pressures experienced by Perth Children’s Hospital in recent months mirror the challenges being faced by public hospitals across Australia.
The McGowan Government is working to address this demand and to improve the workload for staff in the emergency department.
The McGowan Government has been working with Perth Children’s Hospital over the past few months to put additional resources into the hospital, which include:
- An additional 20 beds – these beds include 10 inpatient beds and 10 beds in the High Dependency Unit (HDU). The HDU beds are staggered to open between June to December this year.
- An additional 16 FTE nurses for the emergency department, which will include an immediate increase in permanent nursing staff to enable two additional registered nurses to be rostered for the emergency department across all shifts. These two nurses will monitor patients in the emergency department waiting area and work across the emergency department, supporting areas with higher levels of activity;
- An extra administration officer has been assigned to the triage desk;
- An increased allocation of leave provisions to enable permanent recruitment of staff to cover leave;
- A designated emergency department resuscitation team on every shift, supported by senior medical and nursing staff from within the hospital attending every resuscitation in the ED;
- An additional staff development nurse in the emergency department; and
- Increased clinical nurse specialist shifts to cover each day to provide supervision of junior medical staff.
A Ministerial Advisory Panel will also be established to support organisational, cultural and staff engagement within the health system. The panel will consist of senior health officials, including from each of the health unions.
As stated by Health Minister Roger Cook:
“Perth Children’s Hospital has been experiencing an increase in presentations to the emergency department, which mirrors the challenges being faced by public hospitals across Australia.
“Nurses are the backbone of Western Australia’s health system and the State Government is addressing the increased demand and nursing workforce issues.
“A Ministerial Advisory Panel will be set up to identify solutions to address cultural and engagement issues within the health system.
“Everyone has the same goal – to provide the best healthcare possible for the children of Western Australia.”
