Thursday, 30 October 2025

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (13:00): (1936) My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, in the April–June 2025 quarter, according to the Victorian Agency for Health Information, only 4 per cent of adults presenting with mental health issues at Dandenong Hospital’s emergency department were transferred to a mental health bed, indicating significant delays in care. This is apparently the lowest rate in the state and well below the 44 per cent statewide average. Given that the so-called hospital in Cranbourne has not been provided an emergency department and is actually not a hospital at all but a medical centre that has just been given a new name, what steps will you take, Minister, to increase the capacity of mental health services in Dandenong, reduce emergency department wait times and ensure that individuals in crisis receive timely and appropriate care?