Wednesday, 26 August 2026

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:04): (1438) My question is for the Minister for Health. Last Monday in a media release you boasted about the government’s surgery rates. Shane from Maffra broke his hip in a car accident on 25 September last year. Nearly a year later he is still waiting for surgery. That is nothing to boast about, Minister. Why has your government failed to provide vital, timely care for regional Victorians like Shane?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Special Minister of State) (12:04): Thank you for your question, Ms Bath, and I acknowledge your constituent Shane’s issue with his health. As you would appreciate, I am not really in a position to talk about individual patients in the chamber, but –

Georgie Crozier interjected.

Ingrid STITT: Ms Crozier, I am answering a question to Ms Bath, and I am about to ask her if she has consent from Shane and would like those matters followed up. I am very happy to take that up with my department. There is always the need to protect patient confidentiality, and so I know that people in the chamber appreciate that we cannot go into individual details, but I am more than happy to follow that up, Ms Bath.

It is the case that last year our public hospitals delivered record numbers of planned surgeries – 218,000 in fact – which was the third consecutive record-breaking year. I do want to acknowledge that that is an enormous effort on behalf of all of the health services that are delivering our planned surgery blueprint. I want to acknowledge in particular that I had the opportunity to go out to Northern Health and see the team out there doing incredible work and actually exceeding their –

Melina Bath: On a point of order, President, this question is about Shane from Maffra. It is not about Northern Health. This is about the waitlist and somebody who has had a broken hip for 11 months and is still on the surgery waitlist. Could I ask you to bring the minister back to the subject of my question?

The PRESIDENT: On the point of order and what you referred to, the minister replied to it at the start of her answer, I believe.

Georgie Crozier: On a point of order, President, given the minister is talking about record surgeries, we still do not have the data, so I would concur with Ms Bath. Could you bring the minister back to answering the specific question around why Shane has been waiting for 11 months?

The PRESIDENT: That is not a point of order.

Ingrid STITT: As I was in the process of saying, Ms Bath asked me about our record surgery numbers, and I was –

Members interjecting.

Ingrid STITT: She prefaced the question with a question about planned surgery, and I am giving the context that 218,000 planned surgeries were delivered across our health system, which is a record. It is the third consecutive record-breaking year, and I think it is appropriate to acknowledge the effort of all of our health services and our incredible health workforce in delivering those record numbers. I have already indicated to –

Melina Bath: On a point of order, President, I ask you to draw the minister back to the question. This is about Shane from Maffra – 11 months on a waitlist for a category 2 patient. Bring her back to the question, please.

The PRESIDENT: It is the same point of order, Ms Bath, that you brought up before. As I stated, the minister addressed that particular issue in the start of her answer. Since then I think the minister has been relevant, but it has been really hard to hear her. I am pretty confident she has been, and I will call her to the question.

Ingrid STITT: I want to thank the healthcare workforce right across the state for the job that they are doing caring for Victorians. I have already indicated that I am not in a position to talk about individual patients in the chamber, but I have offered to provide Ms Bath with a follow-up. If she has the consent of Shane to pass on those details, I will follow it up with my department.

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:08): Thank you, Minister, for your response. As I said, Shane is a category 2 patient. He should have received surgery within 90 days. Instead, he has spent month after month trapped in his home, surviving on painkillers and moving in an agony state with a broken hip. His quality of life has been stripped away. He is isolated and suffering, and his doctor is concerned about his condition deteriorating further while he waits on the waitlist. Indeed Dr Iain Nicolson has stated, and I am paraphrasing but I am happy to give this to Hansard, that anybody east of Glen Waverley is in poor condition – and further east even more so. This is his concern about patients in the east of Melbourne. Mind you, Melbourne is no good as it is. What advice have you received regarding the impact on the health system of patients needing additional care as they wait longer and longer and the complexity of their conditions increase?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Special Minister of State) (12:09): Thank you for your supplementary. Again, I am not in a position to talk about individual cases in the chamber, and I will follow up if you provide me with further details, Ms Bath. In relation to the planned surgeries that are delivered across our system, again, we have seen record numbers of surgeries delivered. Our clinicians are always ensuring that we are – the only state in fact in Australia – delivering category 1 surgeries in the recommended timeframe. We have done significant work in our planned surgery –

Melina Bath: On a point of order, President, my supplementary goes exactly to the health system and the delayed surgery wait list: what advice has the minister received?

The PRESIDENT: I believe the minister was being relevant on what advice she has received.

Ingrid STITT: Again I reiterate that our planned surgeries are at record levels and our amazing health services across the state will continue to provide that excellent care to Victorians. If Ms Bath wants to provide me with individual details, I am happy to follow those up outside of the standing orders.

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:11): I move:

That the minister’s responses be taken into consideration on the next day of meeting.

Motion agreed to.