Gembrook electorate health services
Mr BATTIN (Gembrook) (12:26): Constituents throughout Casey-Cardinia have been very resilient for a long period of time. They have carried on through the lockdowns and through the mandates without the current health advice being given to them on why they have been locked in their homes. They have suffered through empty and broken promises on infrastructure, like a police station and fire station for Clyde North. But they are at their wits’ end when it comes to the current health crisis, a crisis completely of the Premier’s making. The Premier has been in charge of the state’s health system for 11 of the past 15 years. That includes nearly eight years as Premier—a Premier who claims that he is responsible for everything under the government he leads. Well, elective surgeries have been continuously cancelled and there are plenty of stories of surgeons with empty theatres, waiting lists out of control and people in pain.
Sarah, 32, from the area, halfway through surgeries to fix chronic pain, had her surgery cancelled the night before with no explanation and an empty operating theatre the next day. Rebecca, who required urgent surgery to deal with complications from a double mastectomy due to a 2021 breast cancer diagnosis, had it cancelled until May. Again, there were operating theatres empty the next day. People are desperate to access our health centres throughout the Casey and Cardinia areas. The crisis throughout Casey is now beyond a joke. People are seeing delays with ambulances and delays with elective surgeries, and the government need to start to put up and fix this system, a problem of their own making.