Wednesday, 1 November 2023

Department of Health

Report 2022–23

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:43): I rise to speak briefly on the Department of Health annual report 2022–23, which was tabled today, one of those many reports that were dumped, and I note that there were many that were not released, including the Ambulance Victoria report, which I look forward to reading when it finally is released. Talking of being finally released, I would like to understand why the government is not releasing the latest elective surgery dental waitlist or the ambulance response times. Again they are overdue. It is the latest quarter from July, August and September. It is now 2 November and there is no data. This government talks about transparency, but they hide this stuff. What are they going to do – dump it on the Friday before a long weekend? They did that last quarter; it looks like they are going to do it this quarter. I think it is disgraceful that again the government talk a big game on transparency but in actual fact, as we saw in the debate today on the documents motion, are very averse to transparency, truth and accountability.

Now, if I can go to this report, which is what I want to speak to, there is lots in it, but what is really concerning and has been highlighted is the failure of the government to meet the expectations, particularly around elective surgery waiting list numbers – 40,000 less than the target for 2022–23, and the actual number was well under the 230,100. It was 190,058, and that is 40,000 Victorians who have not got the care, medical management and surgical management that they deserve and need. That is a very damning number that is in this report. There are other figures also. The national weighted activity unit funded emergency separations for all hospitals – that target was 771, the actual figure was 657, so it was a 14.8 per cent variation, which is again very concerning about the failures within the system.

I want to go to the issue around unplanned readmissions after hip replacement surgery and knee replacement surgery, because the government released their blueprint – their surgery reform paper – just recently, and it talks about patients being discharged on day one after having a hip replacement and knee replacement. I think that is a very big concern, considering the data that is here that the government has provided. For the unplanned readmissions after hip replacement there is a 6.7 per cent increase, and that means that that is more pressure on the system. So I think there will be many more readmissions if the government go ahead with their ill-thought-through reform package where we do not have the support in the community, such as from general practitioners.

This government is going to cut the number of GPs in our community, because it is going to impose a health tax that is going to close 30 per cent of GP clinics across the state. Now, that is not me saying it. That is the AMA, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Australian GP Alliance ‍– these experts that work in this area. They are general practitioners, they work in this field, they know what they are talking about and they say that up to 30 per cent of clinics will close. I have been speaking to medical practitioners, and they are saying to me that the retrospective tax that the government is applying is a new element. The government says nothing has changed, but it has. They are looking back for up to 10 years with some of these medical clinics and applying the tax. It is going to cost not just hundreds of thousands of dollars for these clinics but millions. How are they going to pay for that? The Treasurer in his own admission in a letter late on Friday said, ‘Well, I will waive that.’ So he is picking and choosing which clinics will stay open and which will close. This is the chaos, the idiotic policy, that this government is applying, where at a time when we need people to be supported with their health needs they are shutting down clinics, they are going to kill bulk-billing, they are going to drive costs up for patients and they are going to drive patients into our already struggling emergency departments.

What is more, the Premier said yesterday that of the 27 primary care centres that they have opened, two are out in Mulgrave. We have got a by-election in Mulgrave, and this health tax, I can tell you, is running hot out there. They have got two out there, but if you go on to try and get into the primary care centre, it says, ‘This is not to be used instead of your local GP.’ So the government is all over the place. The Premier does not know what she is talking about. I can tell you that doctors do know what they are talking about, and they are saying to the government, ‘Do not apply this retrospective health tax.’ And it is not just doctors, it is dentists, it is physios, it is psychologists and it is allied health professionals that are helping Victorians stay well, helping them stay out of our emergency departments and stay out of hospital. There is a lot more I can say about this report, and over the coming weeks I will do so.