Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey says old equipment safe despite above limit radiation levels

Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey says he has “confidence in the oversight” of the body overseeing radiation equipment after a leaked document revealed ageing machines posed “major risks” to Fiona Stanley Hospital patients and staff. The hospital’s Head of Cardiology Jamie Rankin outlined a litany of concerns 21 months ago when he wrote to the South Metropolitan Health Service board about an impending 10-year deadline set by Medicare for cardiac catheterisation labs, used to diagnose and treat heart conditions. “Ageing equipment reduces diagnostic accuracy and increases risks to patients and staff,” Dr Rankin wrote in October 2023. “The imaging quality deteriorates. The equipment then uses a higher radiation dose, and the clinicians often need to take additional X-ray images to maintain diagnostic accuracy.” One hospital source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said budget pressure was behind the delay. “The hospital executive is in support, but it’s financial constraints,” they said. Mr Carey on Saturday insisted the ageing equipment was within operational safety requirements. “What I do want to assure West Australians is that it is operating safely, and that in terms of both the diagnosis and treatment of patients, it is having no adverse impacts,” he said. “You have to remember this is heavily regulated by the Radiological Council, and the health service provider provides regular reports. “All the advice is it is operating safely and it is having no adverse impacts on patients, diagnosis or treatment.” But an internal radiation survey, seen by The West, clearly states patients and staff are being exposed to “elevated (radiation) dose levels”. “The most recent data indicates that radiation dose levels now exceed the recommended national limits,” the report said. The bombshell document, obtained by The West Australian, said continuing to use ageing equipment would lead to “compromising patient safety and adding unnecessary occupational health and safety risks”. “Equipment failure in a single lab is now commonplace,” Dr Rankin said. “We had unexpected simultaneous failures in two of our Cathlabs on the same day which severely reduced our capacity for 48 hours. Earlier this year we had serial failure of a Cardiac Ultrasound machine . . . requiring repeat invasive procedures.” Exposure had increased from a dosage of 17.4 in 2020 to 31.39 in 2024 — above the recommended threshold of 30. When those results were put to Mr Carey on Saturday, he passed the buck to the Radiological Council. “I‘m not the expert . . . but we are guided by the advice and the oversight of the Radiological Council. So that’s the right approach, and I have confidence in that oversight,” he said. WA Health said a business case was “in progress” for equipment upgrades, almost two years after Dr Rankin first raised the alarm. The department also denied claims FSH has been unable to bill Medicare for procedures using the equipment, amounting to about $500,000 per month. “I’m advised, Medicare rebates are still being offered,” Mr Carey said on Saturday. “We have a large hospital system with a large amount of equipment, and from time to time, there will be breakdowns. That is anticipated to be in such a large scale hospital system.” Government guidelines on medical equipment replacement outline the “recommended useful life” of imaging equipment, majority of which are capped at 10 years. “Extension of recommended useful life is not a common practice as it leads to increased risk to clinical and patient safety,” the guideline says. Acting Premier and Treasurer Rita Saffioti told reporters on Saturday the State Government would be making the equipment replacement a priority. “As soon as that business case is done we’ll be making sure we allocate funding, we have allocated a record amount of funding to health and so we would very much make this a priority,” she said. Ms Saffioti said she was not aware how much the business case would cost. Australian Medical Association WA president Kyle Hoath said the lack of forward planning was dangerous, and yet another symptom of a system under strain. “Where we’re at is not OK. We can’t accept a substandard healthcare sector,” Dr Hoath said.