The Western Australian government has announced a significant push to cut through bureaucratic delays plaguing hospital maintenance, promising to slash red tape without allocating additional funding or staff.
Minister Carey's Pledge to Streamline Repairs
Housing and Lands Minister John Carey, who holds responsibility for the Department of Finance's building management and works division, has vowed to overhaul the cumbersome processes that currently slow down essential repairs and upkeep across the state's hospitals. The initiative aims to tackle the frustrating backlog of maintenance requests that hospital staff and administrators frequently encounter.
Mr Carey confirmed the move would not involve extra funding or new public service hires. Instead, the focus will be on internal reform, empowering existing teams to make faster decisions and bypass unnecessary administrative hurdles. He expressed frustration with the current system, where even minor repairs can get bogged down in layers of approval.
Addressing a Systemic Problem
The minister's commitment follows ongoing criticism from healthcare professionals and opposition parties about the state of hospital infrastructure and the speed of repairs. Common complaints include lengthy waits for fixing broken equipment, patching up buildings, and completing essential upgrades, which can impact patient care and staff working conditions.
Mr Carey argued that the core issue is not a lack of resources but an excess of process. His plan involves reviewing and simplifying procurement, contracting, and approval workflows specifically for maintenance jobs. The goal is to create a more responsive system where urgent repairs can be actioned within days, not weeks or months.
Focus on Outcomes, Not Bureaucracy
While specific details of the new streamlined protocols are still being finalised, the minister indicated that thresholds for financial approvals would be reviewed and decision-making authority would be pushed down to more local levels. This would allow hospital facility managers and maintenance supervisors to authorise a wider range of works without seeking multiple signatures from centralised government departments.
The government's position is that by cutting the red tape, the existing maintenance budget will be spent more efficiently and effectively. The success of the policy will be measured by a reduction in the backlog of jobs and faster turnaround times for reported issues. Stakeholders, including the Australian Medical Association's WA branch and the Health Services Union, are likely to watch the implementation closely, having long advocated for improvements in this area.
This reform represents a practical, if administrative, response to a persistent problem in WA's health system. If successful, it could serve as a model for streamlining other areas of government service delivery plagued by similar bureaucratic inertia.
