King Edward Memorial Hospital has stood as a symbol of healing and exceptional medical care for over 100 years.

Generations of Western Australians were born there.

In its very first year, King Edward Memorial Hospital delivered 304 babies, while, on average, 6,500 babies are now born there each year.

Sadly, after a century of service to the community, KEMH is run down and is facing many challenges.

Long-term plans have been to move King Edward Memorial Hospital to Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre (QEII) as a future investment for an accessible, co-located hospital services, alongside Perth Children’s Hospital, and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

This plan guarantees best practice healthcare, where mothers with complex health issues can be supported at SCGH, while babies can make a steady transition from the new Women and Babies Hospital to PCH.

This would allow families to stay together, while minimising the risk that comes with transferring critical and high-risk babies between hospitals.

These bi-partisan plans were thrown out in April 2023.

Instead, the Labor Government made the decision to move the project to Fiona Stanley Hospital, against the advice of doctors and health professionals, and contrary to world’s best practice.

Reports from leading medical experts – including 200 clinicians – agree the the FSH move will increase the risk of death and disability for children having to travel 20km on the freeway to PCH.

Perth Children’s Hospital and Neonatology Co-Directors and Directors further wrote that Labor’s new location would  introduce “additional clinical risks that are unacceptable when tri-location mitigates such risks.”

The WA Liberals know building the new Women and Babies Hospital at QEII is imperative for the future of WA Health.

Delivering a tri-located hospital system – supported by the wider medical community – ensures the long-term health of Western Australians is at the forefront of our health policies and is protected for the future.

Only a WA Liberal Government will prioritise it.

The Liberal Party believes receiving timely healthcare from the outset of life can make the difference for future medical needs.

Building the new Women and Babies Hospital as part of a tri-located hospital system will provide Western Australians, especially new mothers and their babies, with holistic hospital support.

It is important that the new hospital – set out to be the state’s  designated hospital for all high risk births – is equally accessible for the far northern suburbs and southern suburbs, just like KEMH.

Healthcare is a shared responsibility, and we want to work closely with our community to ensure that everyone has access to quality care closer to home.

Replacing KEMH presents us with a unique opportunity to build a state-of-the-art facility that meets the highest standards of modern medicine, enhances accessibility for all, and supports our healthcare professionals.

The WA Liberals will terminate any contracts and plans made in respect to the Fiona Stanley Hospital relocation and build the new Women and Babies Hospital at QEII, in line with medical advice.

This will allow us to commence construction of the new Women and Babies Hospital within the first year of government and progress this project in a direction that best serves WA’s women and their babies.

Health advocacy groups highlight that 40 babies born every day require critical same-day surgery and 200 babies a year require urgent transportation, which tri-location in Nedlands can offer under timely circumstances, without the added risks associated with the distance from the Fiona Stanley location.

Using this once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure that Western Australians have world-class facilities constructed in best-practice locations will provide optimal clinic outcomes for our state’s future.

Western Australians deserve to see that the new Women and Babies Hospital is built with the support of medical practitioners and experts, in line with the original QEII plan.

Only the WA Liberal Party is committed to listening to medical experts when planning for WA’s health future.