Independent report lays bare crisis in WA hospital emergency departments
Media Release | 6 February 2026
Libby Mettam MLA
Shadow Health Minister
WA is the worst performing state in Australia for patients being seen in clinically
recommended timeframes in hospital emergency departments.
The findings come from a Productivity Commission Report on Government Services
examining Health Services across the nation.
Across all five emergency department triage categories, the percentage of patients
being seen in clinically recommended timeframes was 46 per cent in Western Australia,
compared to 67 per cent nationally.
Shadow Health Minister Libby Mettam said the report demonstrated what doctors,
nurses and West Australians had been telling the Opposition for years.
“It took the voices of frontline health workers and patients who had personally
experienced the strain in our hospitals to make Premier Roger Cook take notice in
2025,” she said.
“Now an independent report confirms exactly what health workers and patients have
been saying: emergency departments are under severe strain, and patients are paying
the price.
“For a state as wealthy as Western Australia, it is shameful to be labelled the worst in
the country for emergency department patients being seen on time.”
The independent report showed in category three presentations (for example, a patient
presenting with severe abdominal pain), only 29 per cent were seen in the clinically
recommended time (within 30 minutes). This is the worst in Australia and well below
the 61 per cent national average.
Only 47 per cent of category four semi-urgent need patients (for example a patient
needing stitches), were seen within the recommended clinical time (within 60 minutes).
This was the lowest in Australia, and well below the 70 per cent national average.
The Productivity Commission Report also revealed more than a quarter of doctors left
the public hospital workforce in 2024 – a six year high for Western Australia, and above
the national average.
The report also highlighted the Cook Government had not arrested the elective surgery
backlog.
“Last year West Australians endured record ambulance ramping outside hospital
emergency departments,” Ms Mettam said.
“Then after telling everyone we had a ‘world class health system’, Premier Roger Cook
was forced to urgently inject millions of dollars into in the state’s crumbling hospitals
after work orders at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital revealed more than 1,000 examples
of maintenance and repair issues including water, sewage and radiation leaks,
compromising patient and workers’ safety.
“All of this points to a State Government failure to prioritise health.”
MEDIA CONTACT: Graham Mason | 0419 194 792
