Health system
Ms KEALY (Lowan) (14:30): My question is to the Minister for Health, and it is wonderful to be here to ask this question to the Minister for Health. The elective surgery waiting list for last quarter was around 90 000. Reporting of this quarter’s waiting list is now overdue for release. Why won’t the minister release the latest figures? Is it because the elective surgery waiting list now exceeds 100 000 Victorians?
Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:31): I thank the member for Lowan for her question. Let us be clear: when the quarterly data is ready, when it has been collated and when it has been validated it will be released, as is our normal practice. And it is this government and this government only that sought to introduce and has introduced regular quarterly reporting, and we have provided real transparency when it comes to the performance of our health and ambulance systems. This of course is in complete contrast to those on the other side, who have always worked to try and hide the information that is available. We in contrast work to make as much information as transparent as possible. That is what we will do; the quarterly data will be reported when it is complete and ready to be made public.
Ms KEALY (Lowan) (14:32): Can the minister advise why the elective surgery waiting list, now at record levels, omits waiting list figures at some regional hospitals, such as Mildura and Bairnsdale, despite Bairnsdale alone having a local waitlist of around 1400 people?
Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:32): I thank the member for Lowan for her question. The planned surgery waitlists across Victoria are being actively managed every single day by our healthcare services, and indeed we are doing what we can to spread the load around the state and make sure that we can get as many additional category 2 and category 3 surgeries done as possible. It is important to point out at this stage that every category 1 surgery is being delivered within clinically approved guidelines, so that is a very important fact that people need to know.
Once again I will make the point that the impact on elective surgeries is a consequence of the unprecedented demand on our system caused by COVID. If you want to do something to help our health workers, put a mask on in an indoor environment—that is what our health workers would ask that you do. That is one simple action you can take.