The audit objective was to examine whether ambulance services have improved in response to the 2009 Inquiry into SJA, focusing on whether SJA and WA Health have implemented the 2009 Inquiry recommendations and whether there has been effective contract management by WA Health.
SJA is a non-government organisation and this performance audit was undertaken under ‘follow-the-dollar’ powers provided to the Auditor General by the Auditor General Act 2006.
In conducting the audit we held meetings with and interviewed:
- WA Health staff from State Wide Contracting; Quality Assurance Clinical Governance; Performance Activity and Quality; WACHS; Internal Audit and Corporate Governance
- WA Health staff from the Emergency Departments of six hospitals (Sir Charles Gairdner, Swan District, King Edward Memorial, Fremantle, Rockingham and Armadale)
- WACHS staff in Newman, Nullagine, Marble Bar, Port Hedland and Perth
- SJA staff including its Executive Committee, and the Directors of Clinical Services, Information Technology and Ambulance Services
- SJA staff at the State Operations Centre in Belmont and at the Osborne Park depot
- SJA staff and volunteers at the Bunbury, Port Hedland and Newman sub-centres
- staff from complaints agencies, the Health Consumers’ Council (HCC) and the Health and Disability Services Complaints Office (HaDS CO).
Two team members also attended SJA’s Volunteers Conference in August 2012.
We analysed:
- documentation from SJA on the implementation of the recommendations from the Inquiry
- contracts between WA Health and SJA and related documentation
- funds provided to SJA in response to the Inquiry, the source of these funds and allocation of resources
- SJA complaints data provided by SJA, HaDSCO and HCC
- comparative ambulance cost and usage data from ROGS
- SJA’s financial and performance data (although not a government agency SJA’s financial and key performance data are externally audited) including expenditure against agreed budgets, and the performance data provided to WA Health.
The following areas were excluded from the audit:
- SJA’s non-ambulance service activities, including its recruitment and training of First Aid volunteers who also provide event support, industrial paramedic services and the sale of First Aid kits
- the policy of providing emergency ambulance services through an external provider
- determining the reasons for the low usage of ambulance services associated with the current model in WA
- WACHS ambulance services in the Kimberley
- the work of HaDSCO in responding to health service complaints
- WA Health contracted air ambulance services with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
The audit was conducted in accordance with Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards.