By Danielle Green, Yan Yean Mp
What a busy year it’s been so far, and we’re finally getting back to our pre-COVID routines and community activities.
Melbourne is springing back to life, with fantastic music, sporting and cultural events returning to our beautiful city, regions and suburbs – including the Grand Prix, Hamilton the Musical, Queer at the NGV, Elvis at the Bendigo Art Gallery, and of course footy has returned to the MCG.
There’s still much work to do as we continue to recover from COVID-19, which is why the Andrews Labor government isn’t wasting a minute on improving healthcare and growing jobs, close to home.
A record number of Victorians, especially in Melbourne’s north, will receive surgery under the Victorian government’s COVID Catch-Up Plan, designed to catch up on deferred care and get more people into theatres and off the waiting list.
The plan includes a $1.5 billion investment that will see more than 240,000 public patients receive surgery each year by 2024 – more than 40,000 additional procedures per year than pre-pandemic levels.
The three-year investment will also: expand activity in our public hospitals, increase same-day surgeries, extend twilight and after-hours work and theatre improvements to increase efficiency.
Rapid Access Hubs – which exclusively perform specific surgeries such as hernia repairs, cataract surgeries and joint replacements – will be established across metropolitan public hospitals allowing surgical theatres, equipment and staffing to be streamlined.
The first eight hubs will be established in the next year at St Vincent’s on the Park, Broadmeadows Hospital, Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, Royal Women’s Hospital, Werribee Mercy Hospital, Sandringham Hospital, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and one in regional Victoria with details to be confirmed shortly.
Locals in the north will also be soon able to access more comprehensive healthcare services closer to home; The Labor government is investing $675 million to build t10n community hospitals in major growth areas, including brand-new community hospitals in Mernda and Craigieburn.
The Community Hospital based Mernda Town Centre will be a small public hospital providing a range of services including chronic disease management, chemotherapy, social support, and women’s health.
The Craigieburn Community Hospital will be a small public hospital providing a range of day hospital, outpatient, and community health services.
Community input and feedback received up to June 2020 has shaped the service design and early service planning phases of these projects.Communityfeedback has further helped toinform the next phases of planning, and the Community Reference Group for the Mernda Community Hospital recently concluded a design workshop in early April.
These investments will give locals the confidence that they have access to the best possible care, close to home – while also creating new jobs.
Further, alongside the pandemic, mental health is one of the greatest challenges facing Victorians right now. The Labor government is determined to build a mental health system that will support all of us – now and into the future.
Establishing new Local Adult and Older Adult Mental Health and Wellbeing Services is a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. These services will help Victorians access help in the community earlier, before they need to access a hospital or when they reach a crisis point.
Whittlesea is one of the priority regions for the rollout of mental health sites across the state – Whittlesea has one of the highest levels of community mental health contacts per capita, as well as significant evidence surrounding ongoing mental health issues related to the Black Saturday bushfires.
The first of these local services is scheduled to open from mid-2022, with all six of the initial priority services open by the end of 2022.
When casting your vote at the May 21 federal election, it’s important that Victorians know which party supports them when it comes to healthcare and mental health funding.
The Morrison coalition government cut health funding to Victoria in its recent budget and its contribution to mental health funding has been abysmal. Shockingly pre-pandemic the Morrison government removed medical workforce support funding to Doreen, Whittlesea and Wallan that is needed to address our local doctor shortage. Locals are waiting up to a week, even for urgent appointments. This is simply not good enough and is forcing patients to attend hospital emergency departments for non emergency health issues.
As the creators of Medicare only Labor can be trusted to fund and support health.
My Team and I are always ready to help you -– please feel free to contact me on 9432 9782 or via email, at danielle.green@parliament.vic.gov.au
