Tuesday, 24 May 2022

Health system

Mr WELLS (Rowville) (14:32): My question is to the Premier. Adrian, a cancer patient from Rowville, was recently rushed to the Monash Medical Centre by ambulance with a severe headache and vomiting. He spent 24 hours in the emergency department and was transferred to a day care ward for a further 24 hours. He was discharged by overworked staff without an MRI and with no follow-up care when he had actually had a stroke. Can the Premier explain how he has allowed the Victorian health system to decline so far that situations like Adrian’s are now common?

Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:32): I would take issue with the final part of the honourable member’s question. Every patient is unique, so describing things as ‘common’—the member for Rowville may be the father of the house, he is not a clinician. He is not, last I checked, a clinician, and the judgements about what care is provided, the detailed triaging that it is done in every emergency department, every hour of every shift, right across every week, in every part of our state, are not made by politicians. They are made by those who are clinically trained—

Mr R Smith interjected.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, resources are a matter for politicians, yes, too right they are: $12 billion of extra funding, as opposed to those who, when they get the chance, every single time cut the funding—every single time. And if they are not content to cut the funding themselves, they sit on the sidelines cheering on their mates in Canberra who do exactly the same. So, yes, thank you, member for Warrandyte, for your timely interjection. Action matters, resources matter, choices matter—absolutely. But you know what? No-one in this chamber, to the best of my knowledge, is in a position or ought to pretend to be able to provide clinical advice on the individual circumstances of this particular person. If the member for Rowville provides me with the details of this particular case, then I am more than happy to, with Monash Health—

Mr R Smith interjected.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, it is too late, according to the member for Warrandyte. No, it is not too late at all, and if the member for Warrandyte knew anything about the health system, he would know that it is not too late. Every single case you should learn from. Every single case is unique. This patient and others like him may well learn from what occurred to him. That is what our clinicians, our doctors, our nurses, our ambos are passionate about. They are passionate about continuous improvement and always learning. They are not passionate about political games where follow-up apparently is not something that is important.

Follow-up is important, and if you provide the details to me I will make sure that the health department and/or Monash Health speak with this family. If there are any learnings at all that can be embedded in our response for other patients, then absolutely. I have met enough people in our health system to know that that is exactly what they will do. If you are not raising this for follow-up, one can only ask: why are you raising this? If you are not raising it to help this patient or patients like this patient, why are you raising it? You are raising it for your own benefit, not for the patient’s benefit. Otherwise you would not groan when I offer to follow it up.

Mr WELLS (Rowville) (14:36): When returning to the Monash Medical Centre, cancer patient Adrian had to wait 5 hours to be seen by a doctor and sat for a further 7 hours in a chair before being put on a trolley out in the ambulance waiting bay before he could even be given a bed. Sadly this is not an isolated case. Does the Premier take any responsibility for the state of Victoria’s health services and the demands on its overworked staff?

Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:36): Of course. And if the member for Rowville is asserting any differently, then he is simply wrong. As I said, if—

Members interjecting.

Mr ANDREWS: It is really important to not perhaps let the inference be made that a whole lot of staff are sitting around the ED down at Monash twiddling their thumbs. They will have been treating patients. Not to diminish how serious this patient’s condition was, but the sickest patients get treated quickest. It is called triage, and that is very challenging, particularly when you have got thousands—

Members interjecting.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, no, the notion of triage—

Members interjecting.

Mr ANDREWS: Goodness me. If you would like me to follow up on this particular patient, I am happy to do that. If you have raised this matter for your own political gain, well, it says more about you than the nurses, the ambos and the doctors who, I know, every hour of every shift at Monash and every hospital do their best for every patient. To suggest otherwise is just a continuation of your anti health worker policies and record.