The Western Australian Department of Health has rejected all 10 offers to conduct its planned workforce survey, leaving thousands of healthcare workers without the scheduled opportunity to report on working conditions and wellbeing.
What was planned and what has happened
The Your Voice in Health survey programme, established to hear directly from employees across the WA health system, drew more than 71,000 responses in rounds run in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023, according to the original report. The last survey, conducted in 2023, recorded worrying findings about staff morale: only 28% of respondents said they felt valued and respected; 25% believed their organisation cared about their health and wellbeing; and the reporting said just 23% did not believe those leading their organisation were honest.
Health authorities put the delivery of a new series of workforce surveys out to tender last year, with the first survey expected this year and further rounds planned for 2028 and 2030. The tender closed in September and received 10 offers; all have now been declined, the reporting states.
Political reaction and stated concerns
Libby Mettam, Shadow Health Minister, said the Health Minister must explain why every offer was rejected and when frontline staff will be able to have their say again. She warned that the survey provides tens of thousands of workers a direct channel to describe pressures and areas requiring change.
“This survey gives tens of thousands of health workers a direct opportunity to tell the Government what is happening on the frontline, the pressures they face and what needs to change,” Ms Mettam said.
Ms Mettam highlighted service pressures documented elsewhere in the reporting: July had almost 6,000 hours of ambulance ramping; roughly one in 10 patients spent more than 12 hours in emergency departments; and the number of nurses leaving the public health system had almost doubled in five years.
Wider implications
Workforce surveys such as Your Voice in Health are used by health systems to monitor staff morale, identify workforce safety and wellbeing issues, and guide reform and retention strategies. A multi-year pause in a large, system-wide survey limits the ability of managers, unions and policy-makers to track trends consistently and to benchmark progress.
The reporting notes the Health Services Union WA ran its own workforce survey after the Government did not proceed, underscoring a gap that unions and staff organisations sought to fill.
- Survey reach: more than 71,000 responses across four rounds (2019–2023).
- Key 2023 findings: 28% felt valued; 25% believed their organisation cared about wellbeing; 23% did not believe leaders were honest (as reported).
- Operational pressures cited: ~6,000 hours of ambulance ramping in July; ~10% of patients waiting over 12 hours in emergency departments; near doubling of nurse exits over five years.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Tenders received | 10 |
| Status | All offers declined |
| Next surveys planned | 2028 and 2030 (original plan) |
The absence of the official survey raises practical questions: how will the Department of Health monitor staff sentiment at a system level, evaluate the impact of policy or resource changes, and prioritise interventions to reduce burnout and retention losses? The reporting does not supply the department’s explanation for declining all offers.
For clinicians and managers, the loss of a routine, comparable staff survey reduces the evidence base for workforce planning. For patients, the indirect consequence may be slower recognition of systemic workforce stressors that affect care delivery.
Where staff experience elevated workload, ambulance ramping and prolonged emergency department waits, timely, reliable feedback from frontline workers can inform better-targeted responses. In the absence of the government-run instrument, unions and other groups may continue to run alternative surveys, but these are unlikely to provide the same comprehensive, longitudinal dataset the official programme offered.
Readers concerned about workplace health or wellbeing should consult their employer’s occupational health service, union representatives, or their clinic doctor rather than self-diagnosing or relying on informal networks.
