Gerald Lynch
Northern Hospital’s free women’s health clinic is nearing its opening, with the comprehensive service set to open in June.
The clinic will remove the barriers women face when trying to access specialist care and deliver more services closer to home.
Services will be delivered by hardworking gynecologists, urologists, specialist nursing and allied health support under the one roof, making it easier for women to access specialist care for conditions including endometriosis, pelvic pain, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), perimenopause and menopause.
The announcement comes following the opening of the Women’s Pain Survey, seeking the views of women and girls who have experiences with pain and accessing related services.
Seeking a wide range of views, the survey is also calling on clinicians and healthcare workers to help identify areas where the health system and services can be improved.
Parliamentary Secretary for Women’s Health Kat Theophanous said the new clinics have been tailor made by hearing from many women about what they need.
“Having spent a lot of time speaking with women about their experience with pain, it is clear we need to make care more accessible – that is exactly what these clinics will do, especially the mobile clinic for remote areas of the state,” she said.
The findings will contribute to the ongoing Inquiry into Women’s Pain, adding to the insights from Victoria’s recent nation-leading health report, Listening to Women’s Voices. This confirmed what women already know: their health and pain are real and regularly overlooked, with 40 per cent of Victorian women living with chronic pain.
Thomastown MP Bronwyn Halfpenny said it was a big win for women of Melbourne’s north to have the service available from this year.
“This will be a safe and affordable method of care for countless women in the northern suburbs – I am proud that this new service that is right on our doorstop will be one of the first to open,” she said.
Northern Hospital’s clinic will be one of five opening in June across the state, with a further 15 on their way over the next four years.
