Courtesy of Alex on Flickr

The West Australian reported on  Thursday that WA residents will be the first in the country to be able to view public hospital details online, such as the number of patients waiting to be seen in emergency departments, ambulance diversions and ramping, and the number of beds currently available and in use.

All of this information is freely available – right now – at the WA Health Department website. It is being called the first of its kind in the world.

The information on the website is split into several sections for easy navigation, including ED Daily Activity, ED Weekly Activity, ED Activity Now, and Hospital Beds. Currently, the website includes information for Perth hospitals only. The number of beds for country hospitals will be available from next month.

With all the censorship issues currently plaguing this country, it’s comforting to be reminded that not all hope is lost when it comes to freedom of information in Australia.

Well done to the Western Australian government. This is definitely a step in the right direction. Here’s hoping that the same system is implemented in other Australian states as soon as possible.