Thursday, 29 August 2024

Eastern Victoria Region

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:35): (1080) My question is for the Minister for Health Infrastructure. Pakenham residents have been contacting my office to seek urgent assistance in accessing desperately needed surgical procedures, with no certainty of when they will go ahead. In the meantime they are enduring daily debilitating pain. Some rely on opioid-based drugs for relief, others cannot afford to stay home so continue to work through the pain. With recent budget cuts to hospitals, Monash Health is reportedly considering the cancellation of all weekend surgeries, which will put Pakenham’s nearest hospital, Casey, under even greater pressure. Pakenham is in dire need of its own hospital, so my question for the minister is: when will construction of the Pakenham hospital finally begin?