Thursday, 5 March 2026

 Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (12:49): My constituency question today is for the Minister for Health. My constituents ask the minister to investigate the viability of a dedicated residential palliative care unit at Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton. A constituent recently reached out to inform me of the current standards of palliative care at GV Health in Shepparton. They could not fault the palliative care team at the hospital, but the lack of a dedicated residential palliative care unit made the last days of their loved one very difficult. There are currently 12 palliative care beds in total at GV Health: four at Mary Coram and eight in the ward of the hospital itself. Only a few of these rooms have a fold-out single bed for patients’ loved ones to sleep on; the rest only have chairs. Mary Coram is better fitted-out, with a family room, a kitchenette and an outdoor courtyard for families to take a moment to breathe.

With the patients situated in the wards of the hospital, their relatives have little to no access to kitchen or bathroom facilities, with some going many days without a proper shower, as they do not want to leave their ailing loved ones. The time spent in palliative care with a loved one is distressing enough, but to be without the small comforts of a shower, a hot cuppa or even a comfortable place to sleep beside their loved ones just adds to this distress. Let me stress again: the staff do an absolutely amazing job making sure their patients are cared for and that grieving families have that same care. It is the lack of a dedicated facility that is the issue.