The West Australian opposition is outraged the health minister made an obscene gesture in parliament during discussion about problems at the new Fiona Stanley Hospital.
Liberal backbencher Rob Johnson, who was on the parliamentary committing that delivered a report into the new $2 billion facility on Thursday, was criticising the broader handling of the health system when the relevant minister Kim Hames held his hand in a circle and moved it up and down.
Opposition leader Mark McGowan said he'd never seen such conduct before in parliament and suggested Dr Hames, who is also the deputy premier, "might want to consider his own conduct".
Labor MP Tony Buti called on Dr Hames to apologise, labelling his gesture "disgraceful".
"You were right and I apologise," Dr Hames said.
Mr Johnson was also admonished by the Speaker for digressing from the key subject - reiterating a call for Dr Hames to drop his tourism portfolio.
Earlier, committee chairman Graham Jacobs commented on key findings of the report, saying the committee maintained that Serco should never have been given the surgical equipment sterilisation contract at the hospital.
Serco was stripped of the contract in April after surgical equipment was returned contaminated, in at lease one case with bone fragments still attached.
Mr Jacobs said the committee was not reassured that people who had an operation while Serco still had the contract "have been adequately communicated to and reassured that they were not operated on with a contaminated instrument".
Serco still has about 20 other contracts at the hospital.
Mr Jacobs also said the committee had concerns about the company's self-reporting of its own performance, saying there were credibility, accuracy and data presentation deficiencies.
"I want to be clear that Serco offers more transparency, is under more scrutiny and is subject to more accountability measures than many other hospitals," Serco Asia Pacific chief executive Mark Irwin said.
Other findings included Fremantle Hospital being significantly under-utilised after Fiona Stanley Hospital opened, where demand for services had, conversely, been under-estimated.
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