WA's health minister has admitted it was unsatisfactory for a patient to be moved to a hospital gym and given a bell to ring if help was needed.

It was inappropriate to move an elderly patient to a hospital gymnasium at night and give him a hand bell to ring if he needed help, Western Australia's health minister has conceded.

The man in his 70s was reportedly moved to the physiotherapy gym at the new Fiona Stanley Hospital at 3.30am last Monday and kept there for eight hours.

Health Minister Kim Hames told reporters on Sunday that he understood it was the first time such an incident had happened.

"I'm not very happy about it. I don't think it's satisfactory," he said.

"It wasn't appropriate and I accept that, and I've had words to the people at the hospital."

Dr Hames said there had been a record amount of patients coming into the hospital that week, with more than 300 admissions, and transfers to the nearby Fremantle Hospital did not happen quickly enough.

But Dr Hames dismissed calls from the Opposition for his resignation, saying it was unreasonable to expect nothing would ever go wrong in the health system.

He added that his tourism portfolio responsibilities occurred at different times to his health duties.