THERE are numbers that governments don’t like seeing.
You know, polling numbers that aren’t tracking well or project cost blowouts that have lots of zeros at the end.
Well, a number in Mildura caught the Victorian Government’s attention on Wednesday following Sunraysia Daily’s front page story headlined Doc Shock.
It was the number 16,000, which is the amount of patients left without GP access in Mildura following the closure of the Mildura Tristar practice.
Tristar Mildura, a bulk-billing general practice clinic, had about 16,000 patients on its books when it closed last month, after its proposed sale to the Family Doctor group fell through. Another number of note is that the clinic had about 40,000 visits per year.
To put that into context, 16,000 is about a fifth of Sunraysia’s population being left without a doctor. Scary numbers.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews addressed the issue when quizzed at a press conference in Melbourne on Wednesday, and Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas was then questioned by Mildura MP Ali Cupper in parliament.
Ms Thomas said she would have “more to say shortly” on the much-delayed masterplan for northern Mallee health.
But just how long do they actually need?
The masterplan was due for completion in April, notably ahead of the state budget, but that deadline came and went.
Former Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley visited the present hospital at the start of May in the wake of the state budget, and said after a tour of the facility that it was clear that current facilities were inadequate.
He claimed the state had funds available to build a new Mildura hospital and added that he expects to come here to make an announcement on the future of Mallee health services “very soon”.
“We know that the next missing piece in the puzzle is the physical services that the community expects here at their hospital. What holds this hospital back is clearly infrastructure,” Mr Foley said at the time.
The Health Minister also dismissed as a cynical political stunt – the announcement by Opposition Leader Matthew Guy that he would spend $750 million on a new Mildura hospital if elected in November.
But it is now more many months on since Mr Foley’s visit and still no word from the government. In fact, Mr Foley has since left the government, and Ms Thomas, his successor in the Health Minister role, hasn’t even been to Mildura to look for herself yet.
As for the Premier, well the last time he was in Mildura was when the Victorian Government returned the management of Mildura hospital to public hands.
Mildura needs a new hospital, and new training hospital, so this region can train and, importantly, retain doctors and nurses. This is a vast place, and Mildura’s hospital services country people from hundreds of kilometres around. We deserve better.
The numbers don’t lie, so the government needs to be honest with us and deliver what they know we desperately need.
With a state election looming in November, the clock is ticking.
