No one could forget the confronting vision of the Grenfell apartment building in London going up in flames in 2017, when 72 people lost their lives.

It emerged that aluminium composite panelling, used as part of the building’s façade, enabled the original fire to spread rapidly around the apartment block because it was highly combustible.

The discovery sparked a worldwide audit of buildings fitted with several types of this cladding, including here in WA. In March 2019, the WA Health Department identified a number of its assets were fitted with the cladding and therefore posed a major fire risk.

“Core samples of the ACP cladding were taken for laboratory testing to confirm their material type. Immediate action has been taken to ensure the ongoing safety of staff and patients within the hospital,” a government statement said afterwards.

“Work will now commence on mitigation planning and assessing replacement options. The department will follow due process to determine the scope of remediation works required.”

Opposition health spokesperson Libby Mettam asked in Parliament yesterday if the public could be confident that a tragedy such as Grenfell will not happen at buildings in WA, and was accused of scaremongering and mis-truths by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson.

“This is a government that has consistently been slow to act, particularly when it comes to the Health portfolio,” Mettam told 6PR Mornings host Gary Adshead.

Press PLAY to hear Mettam’s disgust at the Health Minister’s performance

“Here we are three years on [from the audit], and the Minister can’t even answer a simple question about whether this work is in hand, despite having the funds to do so.

“There are so many questions to ask [the Health Minister] … we’ve got the highest level of ambulance ramping on record, we have a health system on its knees, we have a demoralised workforce… it is unfortunate when it comes to answers, this minister and this government give no confidence they have these issues at hand or take patient safety seriously.”