Wednesday, 8 June 2022

Health system

Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. Gary from Corryong’s mother, Phyllis, is 94. Two weeks ago she had a fall at home and broke her hip and an ambulance was called. By 5.30 Phyllis had been on the floor for 2 hours, so Gary called 000 again, to be told an ambulance had been deployed. As his mother was struggling with the pain and becoming quite agitated, he again called as it had not arrived. Five hours later it did arrive with exhausted and overworked staff deeply apologetic.

The Premier’s formal reply to the opposition to the near death of a 15-month-old boy is to not once directly raise the circumstance of the case or the boy in the instance that was referred to him. If provided the details of Gary’s mum, Phyllis, will the Premier at least guarantee to Gary and his family that he will have the decency to refer to her and her family and offer them a solution?

Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:12): Firstly, I am not quite sure what the criticism is. Is the criticism that the Leader of the Opposition has not provided anywhere near a full accounting for all the case studies he has referenced but that is somehow my fault? I have written to the Leader of the Opposition and confirmed for him the following: each and every case that he has provided to my office or the Minister for Health’s office with details so that those patients can be identified is being reviewed. The commitment is they are currently being reviewed by the Department of Health in consultation with the treating health service. That is what the letter says. The letter may not necessarily refer to the individual circumstances of the case, although perhaps it should have, given you have referred so few of them to us with details—

Mr Guy: It’s a template.

Mr ANDREWS: Oh, it is a template apparently now. It is a shame I did not bring that wonderful bundle that you just dropped off to my office with ‘Name: Sarah’, ‘Comments: had her surgery cancelled’—that is it, that is all it says. That is all it says. That is apparently forwarding on for follow-up. That is what you do when you are not—see, this is the problem. He raises these matters in order to score a point in this place. All I am saying to the Leader of the Opposition is: stop trying to score points in this chamber and let us work together and get these people the care that they need. But I cannot possibly be expected to say to the CEOs of every single hospital in the state, ‘Can you look for all the Sarahs that are on your list?’. This is ridiculous and shows exactly what the Leader of the Opposition is on about: his gain, not the patient’s welfare, not the care that the patient needs, but his interests, not the patient’s interests. I just say to the Leader of the Opposition in answer to his question—he asked the question—

A member: Come on.

Mr ANDREWS: You can do all the ‘Come on’ you want. At the end of the day if you have got concerns, give us the details and we will follow up. And in relation to this matter or any matter that the Leader of the Opposition raises, I will make the commitment and it is our record: we will forward on those details to the Department of Health. The department will speak with the treating hospital. They will speak with the patient liaison officers at that hospital. They will speak with the relevant clinicians at that hospital, and they will make sure that that person or persons receive the best possible care as soon as possible. If, however, the matter is out of time, if you like, or it has already occurred and there have been failings, then the commitment is to learn from that to try and make sure that if mistakes have been made, they are not made again. Providing these things anonymously is all about the politics and not about the patients.

Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): As Gary says, ‘My mother’s experience is untenable, unacceptable and absolutely deplorable’. There appears to be no end of situations like Phyllis’s being raised here directly with the Premier. It is happening right across Victoria. When will the Premier finally admit Victoria’s health system is facing the worst crisis in its history?

Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:15): So the Leader of the Opposition is now no longer concerned about Phyllis and me following up on that? I am not sure. To put this beyond any doubt to the constituent and her son—

A member interjected.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, you can groan all you want. Provide the details, lest the Leader of the Opposition be seen as someone who is altogether interested in the politics and not interested in patient care. Every worker in our health system is doing their level best with the record funding provided by our government—not cutbacks. Just imagine if we funded health the way this mob did when they were in government, now or ever—cutbacks and closures and political stunts from those opposite. It is all about them. We are putting patients first, and that will not change.