Thursday, 9 June 2022

Health system

Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. David Anderson from Delahey is a war veteran. He suffers from a debilitating hip condition that should have been operated on three years ago. Since then he has suffered multiple delays, reappointments and cancellations, and he himself has written to the CEO of Western Health seeking help. The matter has been raised by the opposition in the Parliament five times as well as by letter with full details provided to the health minister. What more information do the Premier and his government require to fix the case of war veteran David Anderson so he can finally get the surgery he needs and deserves?

Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:11): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. I am not briefed on that particular matter, but I am more than happy to make the inquiries—

Members interjecting.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, if those opposite require me to concede that I do not have in front of me a detailed account of every single patient across—

Members interjecting.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, you raised it with the Minister for Health. I am not the Minister for Health; I am in fact the Premier. The Minister for Health is not here this week. Again, if only all the details had been provided on all the case studies, then we would be able to respond to all of them.

Members interjecting.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, of the 50 cases that have been raised, there are around 10 where the Leader of the Opposition actually provided details sufficient to make contact with them.

Mr Guy: On a point of order, Speaker, with respect, on relevance, I asked a question specifically about David Anderson. I asked the Premier: what more specific information does the Premier or the government require for Mr Anderson to get the surgery he needs?

Mr Cheeseman interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for South Barwon can leave the chamber for the period of 1 hour.

Member for South Barwon withdrew from chamber.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier is being relevant to the question as it was structured.

Mr ANDREWS: I will make inquiries as to the particular patient. I do not have a briefing in front of me on that particular patient right now. The Leader of the Opposition is unsatisfied with that. Well, I do not have that information, but I will get it for him and for the constituent, the patient, that he raises this issue on behalf of. These matters were raised with the Minister for Health. I am confident that if the Minister for Health were here, if he were not away sick, then he perhaps would be able to provide a more detailed answer than I can. But I will get it. I will get the answer. And the key point here is that we want Mr Anderson to get his surgery as fast as possible. The second point is: if only all the details were provided for all the cases that have been raised—

Mr Pearson: Rather than 20 per cent of the time.

Mr ANDREWS: Rather than about 20 per cent of the cases that have been raised. I would just say to the Leader of the Opposition: if it is good enough to raise these case studies for a political point, it is good enough to give us the details so we can get these patients the care that they need.

Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:14): On a supplementary, Mr Anderson is on the hidden waiting list. He has not even been given an appointment to see a surgeon so he can be added to the elective surgery waiting list of 90 000 Victorians. How many other Victorians like Mr Anderson suffer in silence and pain because they cannot even get an appointment to get on the waiting list to have some hope they will get the surgery that they need and that they deserve?

Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (14:14): As I said, I am more than happy to make inquiries in relation to the constituent, the patient, that the Leader of the Opposition refers to. That is the first point. He did talk about elective surgery, outpatient appointments and transparency, and I cannot and I will not allow the leader of an outfit that published barely any data at all when they were in government—

Mr R Smith interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Warrandyte can leave the chamber for a period of 1 hour.

Member for Warrandyte withdrew from chamber.

Mr ANDREWS: They cut and closed and reduced the amount of outpatient activity and access to outpatient services across their miserable time in government. I will not be lectured to by the likes of those opposite when it comes to these matters.

Ms Staley: On a point of order, Speaker, you have previously ruled that question time is not an opportunity to attack the opposition and also that people should use proper titles. In both those cases the Premier has not upheld those standards that you set, and given that he is the leader, he should know that he should be leading on standards as well.

The SPEAKER: Order! I uphold the point of order, but I ask members to cease interjecting across the table and drawing the Premier on some other matters that are not relevant to the question that has been asked.

Mr ANDREWS: For the benefit of the Leader of the Opposition, who seems unaware of or unprepared to acknowledge it, there is a $1.5 billion boost to elective surgery. That includes access. It includes growing capacity, more surgery faster, dealing with the cancellations that this pandemic has caused. He ought to acknowledge we have had a global pandemic—

Mr Guy: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, I do not know if it has not been recognised by the Premier, I asked for a figure. The supplementary was: how many other Victorians are waiting on the list to get onto the elective surgery waiting list? The Premier has not addressed that in any of the time he has given the supplementary answer. I did not ask about government policy or any other matter. I asked for a figure as to how many other Victorians there were.

The SPEAKER: Order! I understand the question that was asked. It referenced waiting lists, and the Premier is being relevant to the question that was asked.

Mr ANDREWS: And I have concluded my answer.