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