South-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:51): (257) My question is for the Minister for Health and relates to the Labor government’s commitment to women’s health, something that is coming obviously on top of the already considerable investment this government is making in our healthcare system in general. Minister, I would like to ask: what services will the women’s health clinic at Casey Hospital provide women throughout the south-east of Melbourne? Understanding that women have unique health challenges that should be treated specially and separately to other medical needs, sometimes they may require specialist staff – experts in the field of women’s general and reproductive health. Approximately 200,000 women in Victoria suffer from endometriosis, one of the conditions that I understand will be treated in the women’s health clinic. Endometriosis is a painful, isolating and debilitating condition and often sees sufferers needing to visit many doctors to obtain the correct diagnosis and treatment options. I ask the minister: in addition to endometriosis, what other services will this clinic provide for the south-east?