Tuesday, 8 February 2022

Adjournment

Elective surgery waiting lists

Ms STALEY (Ripon) (19:00): (6186) My adjournment matter tonight is to the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is that he lifts all surgery bans in western Victoria at Ballarat, Bendigo and Barwon health services. I particularly raise this tonight because of an email I received from a constituent, who in her email to me said:

Our grandson-in-law went to Swan Hill today because he was so ill and had black stools.

The surgeon said that he wanted to do an endoscopy—examine esophagus, stomach, duodenum but cannot do this procedure because elective surgery is banned.

Our daughter-in-law needs a stent removed from her kidney. the surgeon is very anxious about this as it has been in too long. He explained if he did this op and was reported he would be fined heavily.

This is not the only tragic story, the only constituent who has family members in pain and is therefore deeply worried about the health of their family. In western Victoria the major hospitals of Bendigo, Ballarat and Barwon are not in the same position as some of the Melbourne hospitals might be. There is no reason that full elective surgery and private surgery lists cannot start again at these hospitals and at the private hospitals, such as St John of God in Ballarat.

Far too many Victorians are waiting on waiting lists. We now have over 80 000 Victorians on surgery waiting lists, and a thousand are being added each week. It is unacceptable for so many Victorians needing really serious surgery. We are not talking about someone having some sort of cosmetic surgery or a maybe surgery; these are serious, recommended surgeries by doctors that are not being held because the doctors are frightened that they will be fined or because the facilities are just shut in their area. It is way beyond time that this government got its act together when it comes to managing its health service and when it comes to getting surgery started in western Victoria. There is no reason not to. The surgeons are ready. Sure, there are workforce issues. I appreciate that like everywhere we have segments of the workforce that, as they get COVID, are not there and then they isolate, but the health services are saying that they can manage this, and it is time the government put it back to the health services to try and get as much surgery—this kind of needed surgery—done so that my constituents and those across western Victoria do not have to continue to suffer in pain and anxiousness because of this ban.