Tuesday, 2 June 2026

 Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:53): (2349) My constituency question is for the Minister for Health, and it relates to Maroondah Hospital – specifically a mother who came to me yesterday in fact at Eastland. She had taken her child to Maroondah Hospital.

Georgie Crozier interjected.

Nick McGOWAN: Great interruption; it was about paediatrics. The minister might recall that last year the previous Minister for Health wrote to me because there was a suggestion by Eastern Health that they would remove paediatrics from Maroondah Hospital. That decision was reversed by the then minister. Nonetheless, this mother’s concern, as she put it to me, was that last Thursday or thereabouts she took her young son to Maroondah Hospital. He had a suspected broken finger – in fact he did have a broken finger – but he was turned away from that hospital with his mother at 6:30 at night because they were told there were no paediatrician and no paediatric services there. I would like to understand from the minister the nature of the paediatric services that continue at Maroondah, if any.