Thursday, 12 September 2024

Regional health services

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (18:54): (1160) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Health, and it is in relation to the severe shortage of visiting radiologist services in Bairnsdale. My colleague Mr Bull, the member for the area, has raised this issue a number of times with the Minister for Health. He delivered a speech in Parliament in February. He has also written to the minister through questions on notice and has spoken about this around the failure of Bairnsdale Regional Health Service to have appropriate radiology services and called on the minister, at that time, to immediately act. In fact in his speech at the time he said, around the shortage and how people in his area were being treated, that this is not just about a private contractor’s failure, this is about a minister who has utterly failed in their duty to protect the health of all Victorians. We are not asking for luxury, we are demanding the basic right to health care that is equal to that received in Melbourne. Rural lives are not lesser lives. The minister must act now. He made that speech. He also put questions on notice. In a response to the question on notice in March, answered in June, the minister said:

My department informs me that affected services are working through mitigation strategies and exploring options to better support the region’s needs for radiology services.

Well, nothing has happened, and it is still very, very concerning for those people that are requiring these diagnostic services and radiology where there are reporting delays for cancer diagnostics. I-MED is contracted to provide radiology services five days per week, but they are lucky to get two days per fortnight. The admin team reports it receives about six referrals each day. They are inundated, and then they have to decide who they need to allocate appointments to. It is a really serious issue, what is happening, and there is huge concern around those people with potential cancer diagnoses and other life-threatening issues that are not being seen in a timely fashion. As I said, it is not fair for the staff to decide who they are booking for the limited appointments that are available, and as they say, how can you decide whose cancer diagnosis is timelier than another’s? I think they absolutely nailed their concerns regarding this very serious issue. The action I am seeking is for the minister to immediately intervene in this issue. Enough of the lip-service – she has provided some answers to the member, but the people of Gippsland, like the rest of rural and regional Victorian patients, deserve to have access to basic healthcare services.