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'Put new storey on children's hospital now'

A respected Perth paediatrician has attacked the State Government's decision not to add an extra storey to the new children's hospital, saying claims it can be expanded later are unrealistic.

Dr Jackie Scurlock, who worked at Princess Margaret Hospital for 34 years before retiring from full-time work in 2009, said the promise of future floors had been made during an expansion of the current children's hospital but when it ran out of space a pre-fabricated building was used instead.

She said it was short-sighted of the Government not to plan ahead while the new hospital was still a construction site.

"They say they can add later if needed, but they will never get around to it if they don't do it now because once it's a working hospital it will be too hard," she said.

Dr Scurlock rejected the argument suburban hospitals could take more patients, arguing paediatrics was a specialised area, with limited skilled staff who could not be easily shared around the metropolitan area. "Looking into the future, as services for children become more specialised you will need the room to accommodate them and that means space and beds," she said.

Cancer research funding campaigner Rick Parish led about 30 parents to State Parliament yesterday, where the Opposition renewed its call for another storey.

"When we move into the new hospital the cancer ward will have two additional beds," Mr Parish said.

"The current ward is 20 per cent over capacity. This State's population is going to double into the future. What part of this don't they get?"

But Health Minister Kim Hames said improved facilities in outlying suburbs, including the new Midland Hospital and Joondalup Health Campus, would take pressure off the central Perth Children's Hospital.

"Currently, 42 per cent of people who go to Princess Margaret Hospital come from outside the close-in metropolitan area, places like Rockingham and Mandurah," he said.