Wednesday, 29 May 2024

Polwarth electorate health services

Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (19:16): (689) My adjournment this evening is for the Minister for Health, and the action I seek from the Minister for Health is that she gives a guarantee to the hospitals in Polwarth that they will not be amalgamated or closed in coming weeks or months or by the end of the year – hospitals in Colac; Great Ocean Road Health, which of course is Lorne and Apollo Bay; Hesse Rural Health at Winchelsea, which provides an enormous range of services from Beeac to Rokewood and around the district and across even into Bannockburn; and Timboon health, which is a fantastic multipurpose service that picks up and helps support a vibrant rural community but also a growing tourist community down at Port Campbell. These are important regional health services. They have been well governed for a long time, and they provide exceptional bespoke services to their communities.

All these services are very well supported by their local communities. These communities have fundraised and worked hard for a long time. For example, Colac Area Health has a remote cancer service that was bought and paid for by the local community – not a dollar of government funds went to provide that service. Right around Polwarth there are extra rooms, aged care services and other things that have been provided by the community. The community only has buy-in to the services when they know they have some control over them and they can deliver the services that their communities need.

The concern has been heightened in recent talk and uncounted media speculation that the minister has refused to come out and knock on the head. We have had board members and hospital administrators spoken to by department heads, warning them that they cannot employ any more people, that they are not confirming appointments of medical staff, and hospital administrators and others are being left in limbo. This is all creating a great deal of uncertainty, so much so that the Timboon community has called a community meeting for next Wednesday, and I absolutely expect other health services in Colac, Winchelsea and along the Great Ocean Road will find themselves in a similar situation of being forced to have community meetings and call on this government to make it clear that the viability, sustainability and care of these important, much-loved health services will continue into the future, because without them country people fear that they will have to travel longer, spend more time on the road and more time away from their families and loved ones and will not have the services that their community needs because they just will not fit into the huge behemoth that is Barwon Health, based in Geelong and not focused on the boutique needs of country communities.