MT Lawley Labor candidate Simon Millman claims the State Government has allowed Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) to deteriorate because of mismanagement of the State Budget.
Mr Millman was at RPH last week with Opposition health spokesman Roger Cook.
“The reason the government can’t afford to keep their $600 million election promise to redevelop Royal Perth Hospital is because they have stuffed the budget,” Mr Millman told the Guardian Express. “Their economic mismanagement means the people of WA have witnessed the dramatic deterioration of this important hospital.”
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READ NOWMr Millman said people in Mt Lawley had been “fed these hollow promises over two consecutive elections by (Mt Lawley MLA) Michael Sutherland and the Liberal Government, in a crude attempt to win votes”.
“All the promises that have been made about RPH have been broken,” he said.
Health Minister John Day said the government had ensured Royal Perth Hospital continued to be a major tertiary health centre, providing an important and extensive range of medical, surgical and emergency services, including housing the 30-bed State Adult Major Trauma Unit.
“Since 2008, the Liberal National Government has invested around $50 million in capital expenditure at RPH,” he said. “The government is focused on delivering quality, efficient care as close to the community as possible, including in the inner city.”
The government said that each year, RPH dealt with 74,000 emergency department patients, 59,000 patient admissions, and 283,000 outpatient appointments.
Mr Millman said that under the Barnett Government, RPH had gone from a 700-bed hospital to a 450-bed hospital.
“Michael Sutherland ran a scare campaign in 2008 accusing Labor of wanting to close RPH,” he said.
“Labor did plan to redevelop the hospital but to do it right. The Liberal Government has scaled back RPH but they’ve done it through neglect, not by design