Health and Wellness
In respect of medical equipment lent by the Department to private facilities between 2019/20 and 2025/26:
(a) What equipment was lent in (i) 2019/20, (ii) 2020/21, (iii) 2021/22, (iv) 2022/23, (v) 2023/24, (vi) 2024/25 and (vii) 2025/26, (b) what is the (i) type, (ii) make and model and (iii) serial number of the equipment that was lent and (c) on which date was the equipment (i) issued and (ii) returned?
I am informed by the Department of Health and Wellness that:
While the lending of medical equipment is not a routine practice, there are specific circumstances where equipment may be made available to another facility, including other public or private hospitals, on the grounds of compassionate use.
This only takes place based on the following criteria:
- Where there is a surplus of the specific item;
- Where another facility (public or private) faces a critical shortage; and
- Where the action will make the difference in safeguarding a patient’s life.
In such cases, the decision is informed by ethics, compassion, and clinical urgency, and is managed within proper governance processes including within standard asset management processes.
(a) (b) (c) Please refer to the reply to question 28 of 3 October.
