Questions without notice and ministers statements
Health system
Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:01): My question is to the Minister for Health. Deborah from the Yarra Valley has been waiting for a hysterectomy since April 2021. She suffers from postmenopausal bleeding that can be so intense and serious that she needs to be hospitalised. She has had to attend hospital emergency departments over two dozen times. As a category 2 patient she has been waiting on the emergency surgery waiting list for 16 months. Can the minister please tell Deborah and the many thousands of Victorians like her why the health system in Victoria is so broken that a woman in need of such vital surgery has had to wait 16 months and visit emergency departments over two dozen times and still cannot get the help she needs at the time she needs it?
Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:02): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Of course my regards go to Deborah. This must be a difficult time for her, and I hope she is getting the care that she needs through her general practitioner to support her during this time. Can I make the point again that our health system here in Victoria, just like every health system around the nation and indeed across the world, has been significantly impacted by the COVID pandemic.
Now, our government has a $1.5 billion pandemic catch-up plan in place in order to face into the planned surgery list and to deliver the care that Victorians need. Our aim is to be back delivering 240 000 planned surgeries every year here in Victoria by the middle of 2024. Indeed in the last quarter we were able to treat 41 468 patients, and that was a 48 per cent increase on the previous quarter. We have a range of initiatives in place, including I might say initiatives that have been constantly derided and talked down by those on the other side. That of course includes the purchase of the Bellbird Private Hospital and the Frankston Private Hospital to be able to deliver an additional 15 000 surgeries every year.
So once again I will make this point: with Deborah’s permission, if you get in touch with me and you provide the permission that will enable the health service to release her information to me, I am very happy to follow up.
Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): Deborah is in the Parliament today. She is desperate for surgery and desperate for help. The matter was raised here two months ago and she is still not getting the full care that she requires. The lack of surgery is preventing her ability to work and is causing intense pain. I ask: what is it going to take for someone like Deborah, so obviously in need of surgery, to get the help she needs at the time she needs it from a government that seemingly could not care less?
Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:05): Our government is about putting patients first. We are making the investments, we have a plan to increase the planned surgeries, and again, if the member wants to write to me and provide me with details, I can follow it up.