The Allan Labor Government has announced forced health service mergers across the state following years of financial mismanagement and neglect of Victoria’s health system.
The Nationals Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe, said: “12 Local Health Service Networks will come into operation on July 1 this year, yet there is no detail on how these networks will operate, leaving Victorians in the dark about the future of their healthcare.”
This ill-conceived plan will result in reduced services, job losses and force regional Victorians to travel further for essential care, as well as putting more pressure on the larger regional hospitals that are already pushed to the limits.
The Victorian President of the Australian Medical Association has also indicated that implementing these changes would initially require significant financial resources and expertise.
The newly formed Hume network encompassing Goulburn Valley Health lists GV Health as the leading provider of the most complex care in Hume.
The move comes following GV Health’s reporting of a $38.38 million deficit in the last financial year and a frightening negative-seven days of cash at its disposal across 2023-24, the worst cash reserves in the state. Over the past year GV Health has had significant challenges with finances, job shortages, a distressed emergency department, ambulance ramping and an exhausted workforce.
Now the Labor Government want to move even more services under the GV Health umbrella without providing any details, funding certainty or proper financial support.
Ms O’Keeffe said the government needs to provide critical details and transparency and explain how merging these hospitals is going to address the current health crisis.
“Ten years of Labor Government in Victoria has plunged our state into more debt than New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania combined,” she said.
“Now we’re seeing the real-life consequences of this debt with health services being merged and no clarity on what this will mean for our region.
“We have no idea what services will be removed or centralised, making care less accessible for those in our community.
“The government’s wasteful mismanagement and daily $18 million interest payments on Labor’s debt are impacting Victorians every single day.
“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage our health system and regional Victorians are paying the price.”