Tuesday, 5 April 2022

Sandringham Hospital

Mr ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (14:25): My question is to the Minister for Health. Sandringham Hospital has been providing quality care to the bayside community now for 58 years. Surgeons have advised that the surgical unit at Sandringham Hospital will be disbanded, with no guarantee that the existing seven surgeons will be reappointed. Why is the government allowing that surgeons at Sandringham will need to reapply for their jobs, with no guarantee of re-employment, at a time when Victoria is facing a health crisis that includes a shortage of surgeons?

Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality) (14:25): Can I thank the member for Sandringham for his question. We were in conversation with the royal college of surgeons on a range of issues just in recent days. One of those issues that we went to was actually Sandringham Hospital, which is a fantastic facility run by Alfred Health and, as the member rightly says, does a really, really good job. That is why Alfred Health proposed and this government agreed that it should be one of the rapid access hubs for the $1.5 billion program that we announced on Sunday that will see investment in surgeons, perioperative nurses, technicians; will see a renovation of theatre spaces; will see substantial investment in meeting the partnership arrangements that the people of the south-eastern suburbs more broadly, and I suspect the honourable member’s electorate in particular, will have access to.

Mr Rowswell: On a point of order, Speaker, I understand that question time is not always answer time, but it is certainly not story time. On relevance, I have asked the minister a very specific question about the potential redundancy of seven well-equipped, well-credentialed and local surgeons at my local hospital, and my community expects that in this Parliament he directly answer the question which I have asked on behalf of my community.

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister is being relevant to the question that has been asked.

Mr FOLEY: Thank you. So part of the $1.5 billion announcement that we made on the weekend goes to specific support, be it capital, be it people, be it equipment, at eight rapid access hubs, including Sandringham, as it happens. I look forward to keeping very, very busy those great surgeons in Sandringham and Alfred Health. I look forward to their great partnership through the AMA and through the royal college and through their constructive arrangement with Alfred Health to keeping them busy as they partner with us to rebuild on the back of a one-in-100-year global pandemic and the devastating impact that that has had on our public health system.

This is a government that inherited a mess from those opposite when it came to government and invested to fix that mess, to in 2019 get to record levels on just about every measure that you could imagine. We will return to that, if not exceed it, by partnering with those health professionals, including those referred to by the honourable member for Sandringham. When it comes to Sandringham Hospital and when it comes to the surgeons and all the wonderful health professionals at Alfred Health, I look forward to us partnering with them to keep them very busy in the interests of the people of Victoria.

Mr ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (14:29): What consultation was undertaken with the local—

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Oakleigh can leave the chamber for the period of 1 hour. I ask those at the table to assist in the smooth running of question time.

Member for Oakleigh withdrew from chamber.

Mr ROWSWELL: What consultation was undertaken with the local bayside community—

Members interjecting.

Mr ROWSWELL: Speaker, I am entitled to be heard in silence according to the standing orders.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members! The house will come to order.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will come to order.

Mr ROWSWELL: What consultation was undertaken with the local bayside community regarding the changes to Sandringham Hospital that will lead to the potential loss of seven well-credentialed and local surgeons?

Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality) (14:30): I thank the member for Sandringham for his supplementary question. We speak all the time to professional bodies, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the AMA, Alfred Health, private sector partners and surgeons that transfer between the public and the private sectors all the time—every week in fact—and we certainly consulted very particularly with the royal college of surgeons and the AMA when it came to that particular hospital in the honourable member’s electorate. We also consulted through the local public health area network, the south-eastern public health network, a network set up by this government to engage with communities and to engage with hospitals, about where the best location for these important services would be located, and Sandringham Hospital came through because it is full of great people, led by a great team. I look forward to working with those surgeons to deliver better services to the honourable member’s electorate.