Western Australia (WA) is facing an unprecedented healthcare storm. Last month, ambulances spent the equivalent of 292 days parked outside hospitals waiting to unload patients, new figures reveal. This troubling – and growing – number depicts just how far the state has fallen in its ability to govern its health system. Today it is swamped by a lack of hospital beds and increasing need for emergency services. While WA is currently experiencing record levels of ambulance ramping. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, these numbers have broken all records.
As of mid-2023, the state sits second-lowest in the country for hospital beds per capita. This case demonstrates an enormous access to care challenge that affects the entire healthcare system. If WA had the same ratio of beds as Tasmania it could fit an extra 1,500 patients. In addition, emergency departments experienced about a 10 percent increase in semi-urgent and non-urgent cases from 2020-21 to 2023-24. The cases requiring urgent attention have skyrocketed. By comparison, even broadly defined resuscitation and emergency categories have risen 15 percent just in the past decade.
Government Response and Challenges
Health Minister Meredith Hammat says she understands the difficulties are real, but maintains that the government is taking “big steps” to tackle the issues. She pointed to the overwhelming success of a pilot program. It provided 74 percent of ambulance callers the opportunity to get care without needing a trip to an emergency department. This new website is another positive step to relieve the burden on hospitals that are now operating at full capacity.
Hammat stated, “We’re looking at everything we can do, we’re attacking it from every angle.” Since 2021, the for-profit hospital system has put more than 900 beds on the market alone. Staffing levels have increased as well—including a 30 percent increase in staffing. The Health Minister expressed concern regarding the state’s healthcare infrastructure, questioning how a wealthy state like WA could experience such a deteriorating health system.
“How is it in a state as wealthy as Western Australia that we have such a crumbling health system?” – Meredith Hammat
A long, harsh, and widespread flu season is taking a tremendous toll this year. Stagnant, if not declining, vaccination rates among the general population are exacerbating this issue, adding to the hospital burden. These problems, added to the long-time crisis in our healthcare system, have further burdened emergency services.
Voices from the Frontline
Doctors and other medical providers are raising the alarm about the potential consequences of having too few healthcare resources. An alarming pattern was called to our attention by Dr. Kyle Hoath. This is a time when patients are arriving with the most complex and sickest illnesses we’ve ever seen.
“Where people may have presented with severe diabetes in the past, they’re now presenting in renal failure and needing a transplant,” – Dr. Kyle Hoath
Dr. Hoath also lamented that people are not getting care in a timely manner, which only exacerbates health problems. “People are more unwell because they’re not getting the care they need at the right time,” he said. The need for hospital beds is immediate. As Hoath continues, “Bottom-line is we need more beds.” Second, we need more routine capacity in our health system. I mean, it literally doesn’t get easier than that.
Political Repercussions and Future Directions
Our opposition has made hay of these chilling statistics. They view it as an opportunity to attack the federal government’s handling of issues in the healthcare space. The new Lord Mayor of Perth Basil Zempilas — no shrinking violet, he — allows that improving health should take precedence over all other projects. Now, he’s calling on decision-makers to address the long-simmering urgent needs of WA’s healthcare system.
“Don’t build race tracks, don’t build movie studios, don’t do those other things,” – Basil Zempilas
Zempilas urged Premier Mark McGowan to make healthcare his number one priority. He emphasized the importance of demonstrating progress in reducing ambulance ramping: “Think about health. Make that your job, your responsibility, until the people of Western Australia know that ambulance ramping is on the way down.”
Western Australia is on the precipice of a healthcare collapse. Everyone from providers to plans to industry stakeholders are clearly committed to finding viable solutions to patient experience and the root problems with TMF. The growing demands of a rapidly aging population further complicate efforts to build a robust health system capable of meeting future needs.
