Pledge to spend extra on WA hospital medical equipment

Hospitals throughout Western Australia will receive new medical equipment under a $65 million program to upgrade technology and improve patient care.

Health Minister Jim McGinty said the record injection of funds would see hospitals around the State replace outdated equipment and purchase the latest cutting edge technology over the next six months.

"WA hospitals provide first-class care for patients and we want to ensure our medical professionals are working in the best environment possible," Mr McGinty said.

"The State is in a strong financial position so the Government can invest in our health system to ensure that Western Australians have access to state-of-the-art medical equipment and world class standards of care."

Of the $65million to purchase the new equipment, $40million is new money made possible by WA's healthy economy, while $25 million was allocated in the 2004-05 Budget.

The Minister highlighted $5.2million to be spent on specialist equipment for newborn babies and mothers at King Edward Memorial and Princess Margaret hospitals, including ultrasound scanners, incubators, resuscitation cots and defibrillators.

"New life deserves the best chance and that is why we are investing significant funds to help WA mothers and their babies," he said.

In addition to the equipment at KEMH and PMH, Mr McGinty said the $65.75million would buy hundreds of pieces of new medical equipment including:

• $8million for the latest Computerised Tomography (CT) scanners at Fremantle, Royal Perth (RPH), Princess Margaret (PMH) and Sir Charles Gairdner (SCGH) hospitals, which will make testing for cancer, heart problems and other health conditions more comfortable for patients and lead to improved diagnosis;

• $7million to replace major medical equipment in WA regional hospitals, such as diathermy machines, endoscopy systems, diagnostic ultrasound scanners and x-ray equipment;

• $6.2million for biplaners at SCGH;

• $6.3million for patient ventilators, endoscopic ultrasound, cardiac echo, mammography biopsy unit, DNA sequencer, haematology analysers, obstetric ultrasound, digital imaging equipment and a cardio-pulmonary transplant support system at RPH;

• $14.9million for endoscopy equipment, scanners, ultrasound and radiology diagnostic equipment at Fremantle, Rockingham-Kwinana and Armadale-Kelmscott hospitals; and

• $2.1million to replace three gamma cameras at PMH, Fremantle and RPH, which are used for oncology and orthopaedic procedures.

Additional funds have also been allocated to purchase a range of breast screening equipment for Breastscreen WA.

Mr McGinty said the Government was able to put more money into hospitals after delivering balanced Budgets four years in a row.

"This is a significant investment which will enhance the work of medical staff and improve patient care," he said.

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Last Modified: Wednesday, 16-Nov-2005 17:19:27 EST