A new $14 million healthcare project is expected to ease the pressure on Victoria’s health system as it continues to buckle under demand.
The state’s emergency departments are the busiest they have ever been, with presentations hitting a record 486,701 in the most recent quarter – an increase of 5.1 per cent from the previous quarter.
On Sunday, August 21, Premier Dan Andrews announced five new GP-led Priority Primary Care Centres will be established to help ease pressure on hospitals.
The centres will be located near Royal Melbourne Hospital, Northern Hospital Epping, Sunshine Hospital, Monash Medical Centre Clayton, and Grampians Health Ballarat.
The $14.3 million project means each centre located near major hospitals, providing alternative care pathways for non-emergency patients.
“This will reduce demand on our emergency departments, ensuring those that need urgent care can get it faster and avoid an unnecessary trip to the ED,” Mr Andrews said.
“The global pandemic has put health systems around the country under unprecedented pressure – and this is part of our comprehensive plan to deliver the care Victorians need, when they need it, close to home.”
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the state’s health system was in crisis and that the premier had failed to fix it over the past eight years.
If elected in November, the Coalition said it would reprioritise beds in the Mickleham Quarantine Facility to improve the health system at an estimated cost of $35 million during the first year.
Additionally, they would shelve the Suburban Rail Loop project, which could cost $125 billion in its first stages, to instead put more money in healthcare.
“It makes no sense that Mickleham should sit empty whilst we have a health crisis that is worsening by the day,” Mr Guy said.
“We need to take advantage of this facility which in a short period of time could be used to accommodate hundreds of willing patients who no longer require acute hospital care and would be more comfortable in a setting with full support whilst they await placement into aged care or special accommodation.”
