JW: What were your three major highlights/achievements for 2018?

MF: The three highlights that I would nominate would of course be the plan we took to the election being backed by the community. It is the biggest increase in health funding and capital upgrades for the LGH since that hospital was built. And of course the women and children’s precinct, which we are building as part of that. The second highlight would be the meningococcal vaccine campaign that we have run, which has distributed nearly 90,000 doses around the state. I know that has made a real difference to people’s health and has probably saved a number of lives that we will never know about. A third highlight would be the accreditation of the LGH, where it received a glowing report and the feedback was – ‘the cleanest hospital in Australia’ – which was a fantastic tribute to some of the staff who don’t often get acknowledged.

JW: What was the low point?

MF: The single biggest negative or challenge we are experiencing is the demand. Increase in demand is the major pressure on our hospital system and we need to have duel strategies on this. The first is to meet that demand with more staff and more beds, so that healthcare can be provided without making people wait too long. The other strategy that we must continue to pursue is better links into primary care and GPs, but also preventative care so that we are helping people with the information and resources to stay healthy, to maximise your health, so that hospital care where it can be avoided, is avoided. 

JW: You mentioned hospital pressures, nurses launched industrial action in March over these pressures. Heading into 2019, disputes over wages remains ongoing. Do you see a resolution?

MF: There has been some overlap I think, between the unions arguments on this. On the one hand it is on wages, but it’s using the very real fact that demand pressures also exist. To a significant degree, I think that those issues are being amalgamated. The reality is that we do need to meet increasing demand with more resources and more staff and that is exactly what we are doing. On the wages, obviously we would like to find a settlement with the union on this. It’s important that the government has a responsible wages policy so that we can afford, not just to pay the staff the extra pay rise that we want to, but also so that we can afford the additional staff members that we want to employ.

JW: But do you see a resolution being met soon, given that it has been going on for so long? What is the government doing to ensure this doesn’t get dragged on for another 12 months?

MF: We are sincerely and genuinely negotiating in good faith, and a resolution will only be achieved when both sides of the negotiation are able to find a settlement. Not just the government, both sides. The tactic that has been recently played by the unions which is affecting patient care is utterly unacceptable, because industrial action must not ever harm patients care. That is why I’ve made it clear that patients must not be used as pawns in industrial actions.

JW: Can you provide an update on plans for a private co-located hospital adjacent to the LGH and what is that future health precinct going to look like?

MF: The government is working on this together with the proponent of the co-located hospital, Calvary Health Care. I believe this is an essential element of the future of health in the North. That we do have a strong, financially viable co-located private hospital complimenting services for the LGH. I can advise you that it is progressing well and the government’s approach to this is to ensure that we get the best possible deal for the community. So we are not rushing it, but it is actually progressing well and we look forward to being able to provide an update at the earliest opportunity. But I think we need to not settle for less than the best possible deal for the community.

JW: Why the secrecy of the KPMG and RDME reports into the health system? Will you be making them public?

MF: It’s not secrecy, it’s actually respecting confidentiality. I have to respect confidentiality every hour of every day, across a range of matters and the principle at play here is not one of wanting to keep something secret, it’s actually respecting the advice that is sought and provided to government. We want it to be frank and fearless and if people who are being asked to provide advice to government believe that it is going to be given out to a wider audience, then they don’t provide frank and fearless advice. That’s the only principle at stake here for me, no attempt to be secret.

JW: On mental health, the first child and adolescent facility won’t open until September. What is being done in the interim to ensure that the youth in the state’s North presenting to emergency departments are getting the care they need?

MF: It is groundbreaking work that we are doing in mental health. Not only our $104 million mental health package which is now in the budget, but also introducing a new model of providing hospital based mental health care for adolescents, which has never been done before in a dedicated facility. Yes, you are right, that is opening in September, but it is opening because we are building the buildings that allow it and that is going to be the first of its kind, in the state, in its history. But in the meantime, we are putting on extra staff and we are doing everything that we can to support local operational decision making, and that includes whether it’s children or adults requiring mental health [treatment], in the community and in the hospital services. To bring it back to an important point, the chief psychiatrist Dr Aaron Groves is leading a task force right now. He has got all of the right people working together so that we can actually provide more timely care to people, not just in the hospital.