Regional hospital bosses have said the government-ordered cost cuts are ‘unrealistic’ and will lead to ‘inevitable’ closures.
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas has denied reports in the Melbourne media that government cuts will “inevitably” lead to closures of regional hospitals, forced hospital mergers, and a reduction in the number of health services from the current 76 to as few as 12.
While Ms Thomas said the Herald Sun this morning was “at best misleading, and at worst, just wrong”, and that there would be no hospital closures “under my watch”.
She did admit that hospital services had been asked to look at “back of house” functions such as corporate services and consultancies.
According to the Herald Sun, regional hospital bosses have warned that closures will be “inevitable” and that the savings targets are “unrealistic”.
Health and transport are the two areas expected to bear the brunt of the Allan government’s attempts to reign in a prospective net debt of $178 billion by 2026-27.
Forced mergers of hospitals were also on the cards, in a bid to reduce the number of Victorian health services from the current 76 to as few as 12, according to the HS, which also reported that some regional hospital bosses had reported multimillion-dollar deficits last financial year, with “no way” to cut costs without impacting frontline services.
“A lot of hospitals say it can’t be done without cutting (jobs) or reducing services,” one boss was quoted as saying.
Senior health sources allegedly told the outlet the health department had refused to guarantee hospital deficits would be covered in order for them to continue operating with losses, and that they were being urged to use tied funding – money given by benefactors for specific purposes – as operational cash.
Ms Thomas said that to her knowledge tied funding was not being used in that way.
In a supplementary statement, a spokesperson for the Victorian government told HSD:
“There are no plans to close any Victorian hospitals – unlike the Liberal National Party, we are not in the business of shutting down, privatising or slashing funding to our hospitals.
“Victorians rightly expect us to prioritise the frontline health services they need and that is what we have done – streamlining back of house functions will not impact our frontline health workers.”
“We have a world-class health system in Victoria – it continues to be our largest investment and this will continue to be the case.”
Construction starts in Mackay
The $250 million expansion of the Mackay Base Hospital hit a major milestone with the start of construction.
The expansion will, according to Queensland Health, deliver an additional 128 beds, new birth suites and women’s and children’s health units. The additional 128 beds will be rolled out across paediatric, medical, and surgical wards.
New birth suites will also be located on the same level as the surgical department, ensuring a smoother transition of care for mothers and newborns.
The Women’s Health Unit and the Child and Adolescent Unit will move into the new contemporary wards when the hospital expansion opens in the second half of 2026.
Initial site works began in February and included upgrades to essential services such as water and sewerage, as well as site clearing.
The Mackay Base Hospital Expansion project will create 610 local construction jobs. Planning is also under way for the multi-deck car park at the hospital to support the expansion.
Award season at Sunshine Coast Health
Sunshine Coast Health has rewarded staff members at its annual staff awards.
Staff specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology Professor Ted Weaver OAM was presented with the region’s top health award – the Person-Centred Care Dr H H Barney Moy Award.
“I am pleased to see this honour go to Professor Weaver, in acknowledgment of his ongoing contributions to growing quality, safe and woman-centred care,” said CEO Dr Peter Gillies.
“With almost 40 years of experience, he continues to always put people at the focus of his work and promotes a culture of true respect and collaboration between clinicians and the women they provide care for.
“In nominating Professor Weaver for this award, his colleagues acknowledged him as a highly regarded leader, who supports and enables students and colleagues from all disciplines to drive positive, innovating change, to continually improve care delivery.”
Professor Weaver said he was “thrilled and humbled”.
Other outstanding staff were acknowledged for excellence, as well as Sunshine Coast Health’s key values of innovation, accountability, compassion, and integrity.
The awards celebrated outstanding work in various fields, including medical, midwifery, allied health, nursing, administration, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and volunteering.
“We were pleased to see so many people peer nominated for these awards, we were overwhelmed with how much our staff, volunteers and consumer representatives have achieved,” Dr Gillies said.
Winners of the Sunshine Coast Health 2023 Staff Awards:
- Integrity Award – Steve Alizzi, Coordinator Medical Imaging Assistants
- Compassion Award – Caitlin Coppock, of the Clinical Investigations team
- Accountability Award – Amy Carey, Director of Nursing at Caloundra Health Service
- Innovation Award – Helen Sheahan, Director of Podiatry at SCUH
- Volunteer of the Year Award – Brenda Riddell, volunteer at SCUH
- Matty Hempstalk Consumer Representative of the Year Award – Lesley McGee
- Gallangoor Ngin Award – Genevieve Levitt, Clinical Midwife at SCUH
- Dr H H Barney Moy Patient Centred Care Award – Professor Ted Weaver OAM