Northern Victoria Region
Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (14:07): (1769) My constituency question is for the Minister for Health. Last week I had a visit from a constituent who had just been to the Albury-Wodonga Health vaccination hub across the road from my office. When she went to book her booster online, she could not. She turned up at the hub and was told appointments were not needed and to just go in. She was very surprised to find she could walk straight into a very overstaffed facility. She was the only person waiting, and in her complete time from entry to exit she only saw three other patients. Considering the staffing shortages across our Northern Victorian hospital system she was surprised at all the admin staff sitting at an empty facility, along with nurses and other medical staff, with nothing to do. As a retired nurse, she could not understand why this was happening when the hospital system is collapsing with a staff shortage. It seems that at least this vaccination hub has reached the end of its useful life. Minister, will you ensure that staff at Northern Victorian vaccination hubs with nothing to do are transferred to our hospitals, where they are desperately needed?