THIS sitting fortnight in Canberra, healthcare in the Sunraysia and Mildura has been front and centre of my concerns, building on the Regional Health Workforce Summit I convened in Mildura in March as Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health.
The format of that Summit was so meaningful for those at the coalface, that I am convening a Regional Aged Care Summit also in Mildura on Thursday, July 6. Regional aged care is in crisis, as I told parliament this week in Canberra, and we can’t afford to see more facilities close due to the sustainability and workforce crisis they face.
I met this week with the Assistant Minister for Regional Health Emma McBride to update her on my work on expanding health services in Mildura and to seek her support. In recent weeks, I have visited the state-of-the-art cardiology facilities at two Melbourne hospitals as I work with stakeholders to deliver a catherisation laboratory, or “cath lab” in Mildura. The Minister has accepted my invitation to be part of a high-level meeting with local hospitals and potential partners to help make the cath lab a reality.
I have also asked Health Minister Mark Butler to help us secure cutting-edge melanoma and skin cancer detection technology for the region. It is tragic that our region is a national hot spot when it comes to mortality from those cancers and I am concerned that Labor has cut the successful TrialHub program that was developing treatments in the regions.
In parliament, I also asked questions of the Health Minister about the impact of Labor’s ill-conceived 60-day dispensing policy, which puts the viability of regional pharmacies at risk. I continue to keep the government accountable, asking why Labor added capital city suburbs to the Distribution Priority Areas (DPA), creating a vacuum of regional doctors, in fact a 57 per cent loss of doctors to peri urban centres since Labor introduced the policy change.
Sunraysia desperately needs more doctors, nurses and allied health professional. I’m proud to serve as member for Mallee and Shadow Minister to work right now towards meaningful solutions.
