The first six months
Our Minister for Health and Mental Health Meredith Hammat MLA reflects on an early milestone in the role, where she’s come from, and where health is going under her leadership.
September will mark six months into my role as Health and Mental Health Minister for Western Australia.
It’s a milestone I likely wouldn’t have realised, if it wasn’t for this invitation to reflect for Medicus, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.
There have been many visits to tertiary hospitals, health campuses and allied health services these past few months, and I thank every one of you whom I’ve met along the way.
For those I haven’t met yet, it’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to introduce myself.
I was born at Katanning Hospital and raised on a farm just near Broomehill, close to Katanning and Kojonup.
My dad was a farmer, and my mum was a midwife who worked at the local hospital.
Early life on the farm taught me a lot of the values that stay with me today – such as hard work, community service, and taking care of other people.
I’ve also had a long-term interest in access to health services for WA.
I served on the panel of experts that wrote the Sustainable Health Review, which gave me a great opportunity to look deeply into the challenges facing our health system and what it takes to provide accessible and affordable healthcare in a state like WA.
I’ve spent more than 20 years advocating for working people in WA: advocating for their conditions at work, and advocating for them to have access to the quality public services they need.
I knew it before, and I’m certain of it now – we do have a health system that we should be proud of. But one of the consequences of having the strongest economy in the nation is also having the fastest-growing population in the nation.
Our population has grown by more than 300,000 over the past five years, with more people choosing to live and work in our beautiful State. There’s no doubt our health system is feeling the impact of this demand.
On top of this, over the next decade our population is set to grow by another 500,000 – with the number of people over the age of 85 expected to double.
“ Early life on the farm taught me a lot of the values that stay with me today – such as hard work, community service, and taking care of other people.
Despite our rapid population growth, the pressures and challenges our health services face in the metropolitan areas are similar to those being felt nationwide.
But it’s when you’re out in the regions that you really appreciate the unique circumstances we face in WA, and it drives my commitment as Health Minister to improve healthcare access no matter where you live.
Access means one thing to a patient in Perth, but it means something else entirely to a patient in Broome; and then again at the top of the Dampier Peninsula on Bardi Country.
There is no easy answer to improve access as the world’s largest single jurisdictional health system. Ensuring every Western Australian gets the healthcare they need, no matter where they live, is an absolute priority for our government.
We’ve already added more than 900 beds to our health system and 1,800 doctors to our workforce over the past four years. And we’re investing billions of dollars in capital expenditure over the next four years, with another hospital worth of beds in the pipeline.
But in a state as big as ours, hospitals can’t be the only port of call for the community.
With so many emerging digital health technologies at our disposal, we also need increased access to services at home and in the community – because often the best care setting for people is not in a hospital.
Through programs like Hospital in the Home, Community Health in a Virtual Environment (Co-HIVE) and the WA Virtual Emergency Department, WA Health is at the cutting edge of health innovation and preparing our State for the future.
It’s through continued commitment and investment that our health system and workforce will continue to strengthen, even as our population ages and grows in number.
Health is the most important aspect of our lives. Whether you’re delivering care for your community in Perth or in the regions, I want to thank you for the positive difference you make every day.
Our Health Service Providers, our community-led programs, unions and staff on the ground all do an incredible job advocating for their needs.
The Cook Labor Government is committed to ensuring Western Australians have access to the care they need, when they need it.
The importance of the AMA (WA) and its members to achieving this commitment should not be understated. Thank you for your commitment to public health and for your ongoing advocacy on behalf of your members.
