AFTER months of speculation, local health services will not be forced to amalgamate with other public hospital services across northern and central Victoria.
The Victorian Government last week received the final report on the state’s health services plan from an expert advisory committee, recommending the amalgamation of 76 public hospital services to 11.
The report suggested amalgamations would allow effective use of hospital resources, attract more workers and reduce costs, decreasing fragmentation across the state’s public health system.
The report also stated Victoria’s health services system was “no longer fit-for-purpose”, handing down 27 recommendations including the establishment of a new agency, Hospitals Victoria and supporting amalgamation.
However, the State government accepted 26 of 27 of the recommendations – defying the advisory committee’s suggestion of amalgamation.
Instead, the State Government proposes grouping public health services into Local Health Service Networks – five rural and regional networks and six metropolitan networks.
Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas described Victoria’s health system as “one of the best in the world”.
“These reforms will keep us on track to deliver even better patient care,” she said
“…Through a reformed health system that is better integrated and connected, at the same time protecting the local services we know Victorians trust and rely on.”
But local politicians are pushing back on the proposed health networks, Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell urging local communities to continue the fight against amalgamation.
“Labor’s dramatic backflip on forced hospital amalgamations is a win for people power,” she said.
“Premier Jacinta Allan is now running scared from bad polls and strong community backlash to her destructive policies.
“The planned amalgamations were always poor policy, sacrificing patient accessibility to chase short-term savings because Labor can’t manage money, and their decade of financial mismanagement has left Victoria in billions of dollars of debt.
“However, local communities must remain vigilant that Labor’s announced five regional health ‘Networks’ are not a steppingstone to amalgamations by stealth.
“Labor has spent years developing their secret health services plan and in the interests of transparency, Premier Jacinta Allan must immediately release it in full.”
Victorian Leader of The Nationals, Peter Walsh claimed the State Government was “marching ahead with mergers of regional health services, regardless of its spin and rhetoric”.
“Labor can call them networks or alliances, but it is still planning massive amalgamations,” he said.
“We support local hospitals for local people, yet these mergers take management and key decision making away from locals
“Decisions and cuts will be made from centralised hubs in big regional centres, in some instances a long way away from the actual local health service.
“Regional patients in some cases will have to travel hundreds of kilometres from where they live to where the services are delivered.”
Premier Jacinta Allan said the State Government would continue to support patients and families across the state.
“We will always support our hospitals – because that’s what Labor does,” she said.
“As the sister of a nurse, and the mum of a daughter who has relied on the life-saving care of our hospitals – my priority will always be patients and their families.”
Kerang District Health was contacted for comment.
