00:00After 82-year-old Margaret had a fall, she needed some extra help.
00:06While that's being organised, she's in one of the State Government's Time to Think aged care beds,
00:11meant to take pressure off struggling hospitals.
00:14One bed at a time.
00:17They can weigh up their options, speak to their family and friends,
00:20make informed decisions about their longer-term care.
00:23Aged care is primarily a federal responsibility, but...
00:27We're partnering with the aged care providers, stepping in,
00:30because we know there's a need for older West Australians like Margaret
00:34to have someone have their back.
00:37The Premier, Health Minister and Aged Care Minister travelled to Canberra on Tuesday
00:41to ask for more help, with the Federal Aged Care Minister promising to head west in coming weeks.
00:46The Premier should stop blaming Canberra, should stop pointing the finger at the Prime Minister
00:52and do the job himself.
00:54They've got the money, they just have to have the will to want to do it.
00:58He promised to fund 500 new concessional beds
01:03and put $100 million in a down payment for that.
01:06And my advice to the Ministers and Premier Cook,
01:08sorry, but you need to do that every year for the next 10 years.
01:11Great!
01:13There are 11 new beds in this facility, but each day in WA's hospitals there's around 300 people in need of aged care,
01:22making it just one part of solving a much bigger problem.
01:25Any relief is a long way off and the Health Minister says it could mean a small number of elective surgeries continue to be postponed.
01:32Albany resident Debbie Butler was preparing to fly to Perth for a double hip replacement on Tuesday.
01:37And I received a phone call from Royal Perth Hospital saying my surgery had been cancelled for the second time.
01:46She's yet to be rescheduled, left living in pain.
01:49I think they need to improve things a lot.
01:52They need, if a surgery is going to happen, it's going to happen.
01:58The government says any delays are in an effort to treat the most urgent patients first.
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