Wednesday, 15 May 2024

Eildon electorate health services

Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (17:20): (665) I have an urgent and critical matter for the Minister for Health, and I trust that since she is in the chamber I have her undivided attention. The action I seek is for the minister to ensure the hospitals in Mansfield, Alexandra and Yea are not subject to amalgamation and instead are funded appropriately to continue operations at current levels. It makes no sense to have these services run out of Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton. Shepparton is an hour and a half away from each of these communities and has very few community links. By stealth the government embarked on a process to merge hospitals. Communities have been left completely in the dark as to the government’s intent. Nothing was put in writing. CEOs and board chairs were gagged to keep communities in the dark. To quote JFK:

The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society …

Hospital CEOs received a phone call alerting them to the required 10 per cent savings – that is code for budget cuts. Reports indicate that these changes are designed to deliver savings to help reduce the ever-increasing and spiralling debt crisis created by the Victorian government. Gone are the words ‘partnerships’ and ‘consolidation’. It is only consolidation now, and hospital mergers are very much on the table. This is devastating for my communities. The plan will see a loss of healthcare sector jobs, a loss of local services, a disruption to continuity in patient care in aged care, a huge threat to theatre and maternity, particularly in Mansfield, and primary health care. There is disruption to our traditional and longstanding emergency education and clinical governance and visiting specialist links out of Mansfield and Alexandra. The health services are among the biggest local employers, and people are passionate about their hospitals. The amalgamation plan is said to be supported by data, but that data does not appear to exist. These hospitals were not visited by the plan’s expert panel.

We know from Grampians Health that health services in the west of the state have seen local GPs leave as it is no longer such an attractive proposition to be working in those areas. Hospitals have increased costs imposed by the government without increased funding to cover these costs. They have increased costs in medicines, needles and masks. WorkCover has rocketed. Safe patient care – the enterprise bargaining agreement has gone up 3 per cent each year, as has superannuation. And hospitals have not been given any more funding to cover these costs. Too many hospitals have been forced to carry deficits; it is carry deficits or cut services. Under Labor at least a dozen of Victoria’s health services are operating with significant deficits, with reports from health insiders suggesting that the Royal Melbourne Hospital is also one of the ones that is millions of dollars in the red. Labor cannot manage money. They cannot manage our health system, and as a result Victorian patients will suffer. It is just not good enough. These hospitals cannot be run out of Shepparton.