Question Time

Hospital Beds

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding hospitals.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Last Friday, the Marshall-Lucas Liberal government announced they would be closing 60 hospital beds, despite dangerous ambulance ramping being at an all-time high. Three years ago, the now health minister issued a media release, dated 7 September 2016, in which he said that the government should put:

…bed closures on hold and provide independently verified, publicly available data that the beds are no longer needed.

My questions to the minister are: does the minister have the independently verified, publicly available data that these beds are no longer needed, as he said in the past was so important; will the minister make that data publicly available, as he thinks it is so important to do so; and did KordaMentha make and implement the recommendations to close these 60 beds?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:29): I thank the honourable member for his question, completely based on a misunderstanding. There are no beds closing: there are 60 beds that will be put on stand-by as surge capacity.