Thursday, 4 December 2025

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (23:54): (2225) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Health around what has been reported today on Seymour Health and the issues – very concerning, I might add – around what has happened, with the chair of the finance, risk and audit committee, who spoke at the annual general meeting earlier this week, speaking of the deficit that the health service has of $1.3 million. It is not a huge amount but a big amount for that health service, nevertheless, and for those staff who are doing a tremendous job with an increasing demand. But the concerning thing is that it was reported that there had been directives from the Department of Health to say that, should there be any funding shortfalls on the deficit, they would have to draw down on staff entitlements. Those staff entitlements are long service leave, annual leave and sick leave, and those entitlements are meant to be there for exactly those purposes. ‘If there were any shortfalls’ – that was the directive provided by the Department of Health.

This is not the first time I have heard this. There is nothing in writing; it is all over the telephone. It is a very sneaky way to put pressure on these health services. These are the cuts that are going on by stealth and the amalgamations by stealth. These health services deserve to have greater support from the Department of Health than what is going on. We have seen it at the Royal Melbourne Hospital just last week, with the foundation having to dip into their funds to build infrastructure – to build a security room. This is a trend that is happening where hospitals and health services are really struggling with increased demand. We are not getting the outcomes that we should. There is industrial action all over the place. There are just so many issues going on in health because the government has failed to manage it properly. As I keep saying, Labor cannot manage money, they cannot manage health, and it is Victorians who are paying the price. We have never seen it as dire as it is now.

What I would really like to have the minister respond to is the request from Seymour Health. They had sought a letter of comfort from the department that it would bail out the health service if they were liable for entitlements and they did not have the cash reserves to pay for those. The action I seek is for the minister to answer why they have not provided that letter of comfort to this health service, and if they are going to do so, when will they do it?