Second email exposes mental health bed cuts in winter surge plan
Media Release | 17 March 2026
Libby Mettam
Shadow Health Minister
A second leaked email has revealed the Cook Government is repurposing specialist
mental health beds as it scrambles to deal with mounting winter pressure in Western
Australia’s public hospitals.
Shadow Health Minister Libby Mettam said the email confirmed 25 women’s mental
health beds at Cockburn Health would be converted into Care Awaiting Placement
(CAP) beds as part of the Government’s winter strategy.
The email from a South Metropolitan Health Service manager follows an earlier leaked
email revealing two operating theatres at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital would be closed
to create additional ward space under the same winter strategy.
“This latest leak confirms what clinicians and patients already feared – the Cook
Government’s winter plan is not creating new beds, it is robbing existing services,” Ms
Mettam said.
“First, we learned operating theatres could be closed to create flu wards. Now we find
specialist mental health beds are being stripped away,” she said.
“In a state as wealthy as Western Australia, we should not be pushing one group of
vulnerable patients aside to treat another.”
Ms Mettam said the email itself acknowledged the high demand and existing waiting list
for women’s mental health beds, while offering no alternative for patients who would
lose access to care.
“If the Health Minister was being honest when she announced the winter surge plan,
she would have told West Australians it involved shutting wards and theatres,” she said.
“Instead, the real story is emerging through a drip feed of leaks.
“West Australians deserve to know how many other services will be cut or repurposed
this winter because of the Government’s failure to properly plan and invest in our
hospitals.”
Ms Mettam said the Government was “robbing Peter to pay Paul” by shifting beds and
resources around rather than fixing the underlying health crisis.
The email described the loss of the mental health beds as ‘regrettable’, but confirmed
the decision had been approved as part of the Government’s winter bed strategy.
“This isn’t a plan — it’s a last-minute reshuffle to keep a broken hospital system limping
from crisis to crisis,” she said.
“Western Australians deserve transparency from the Premier and Health Minister, and a
health system that is properly resourced — not one held together by last-minute
decisions behind closed doors.”
MEDIA CONTACT: Graham Mason | 0419 194 792
