• WA Liberals Elective Surgery Guarantee will ensure Western Australians who need surgery will get it within the medically recommended time frame.

• WA Liberals are the only party committed to building the Women’s and Babies Hospital at the recommended QEII site.

• WA Liberals only party committed to rebuilding Royal Perth Hospital.

• St Johns-backed plan to immediately reduce ambulance ramping by 20 per cent.

Liberal Leader Libby Mettam says Premier Roger Cook is showing reckless indifference to the unfolding disaster in Western Australia’s health system.

“The number of people waiting for elective surgery in WA has blown out by 50 per cent since Labor took over government in 2017,” Ms Mettam said.

“But even more concerning is that on average there are now 5,200 Western Australians – or more than 1 in 6 on the waiting list – who are waiting longer than recommended for their surgery.

“That number represents a 320 per cent increase in over-boundary cases since 2017.

“Tragically, people are dying while waiting for surgery, but Roger Cook refuses to believe there is a problem, he believes the health system is ticking along nicely – he says he’s proud of it.”

Ms Mettam said that after extensive consultation sector operators and looking at what had worked in other jurisdictions, the WA Liberals had developed a common-sense policy that would guarantee every Western Australian who needed surgery would get it within the medically recommended timeframe.

“If a patient cannot get that surgery in the public system, my government will pay for them to receive the surgery with a private sector provider,” she said.

“There will be no additional cost to the patient.

“The WA Liberals are the only party with ready-to-roll plans to immediately get people waiting for surgery into theatres.

“There are private providers who are willing to work with us, have the capacity to take up these surgeries and are on standby to start the instant a Liberal Government is elected.”

It is anticipated 10,000 additional surgeries will be performed within the first two years of the Mettam Liberal Government, clearing Labor’s backlog.

Those surgeries will be supported by a $100 million investment over four years, permanently undoing the Cook Labor Government’s mess.

“Our health plan is about strategically investing in the right places, to give patients the dignity they deserve, and to deliver Western Australians the healthcare system they can trust,” Ms Mettam said.

“The Liberals will not stand by and allow a two-tier health system to develop where those who can afford to pay get surgery immediately and those who cannot go to the back of a very, very long queue.”

“We are, as Roger Cook continues to remind us, the wealthiest state in the nation, we must do better for those who need medical care.”

Only the WA Liberals have a plan to fix WA’s healthcare system. The WA Liberals plan to heal our health system includes:

• Holding a Royal Commission into WA’s health system, to learn what has gone wrong, and give physicians the opportunity to speak up

• Redeveloping Royal Perth Hospital to modernise facilities and expand capacity

• Building the Women and Babies Hospital at QEII, following expert clinical advice

• Activating 60 unused beds at Joondalup Health Campus to ease pressure on emergency departments

• Fast-tracking the completion of Tom Price Hospital and Margaret River Hospital to improve regional healthcare access

• Expanding transitional care beds to free up hospital capacity

• Introducing an Elective Surgery Guarantee, ensuring timely procedures and clearing Labor’s backlog

• Expanding St John Urgent Care Clinics and funding 60,000 urgent care appointments to reduce hospital overcrowding

• Increasing community-based pharmacy services to improve access to essential medications

• Providing free GP follow-up appointments within seven days of hospital discharge to prevent avoidable readmission

• Investing $40 million for suicide prevention programs, targeting high-risk communities

• Investing $40 million for early intervention mental health services, supporting young people and vulnerable groups

• Providing $6 million to expand Kids Helpline, ensuring every young Western Australian has access to crisis support

• Fully funding the Earbus program ($26.8 million) to combat WA’s world-leading rates of middle ear disease in Aboriginal children

• Investing $19 million in mobile regional dental care, ensuring access to essential dental services

• Providing $6 million to make the Meningococcal B vaccine free for babies, teens, and at-risk groups

Only a WA Liberal Government will fix the health system by delivering real reforms that prioritise patients, support