Wednesday, 22 February 2023

Adjournment

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers, Minister for Child Protection and Family Services) (17:27): I move:

That the house do now adjourn.

Hampton Park Women’s Health Clinic

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:27): (48) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Health, and it is in relation to the Hampton Park Women’s Health Clinic, who provide fantastic services to the local community and many women in that area. It calls on the government to undertake some negotiations with them, because they have written to the minister about utilising their services to help assist with the enormous waitlist, particularly around gynaecological services for women. This private clinic currently provides surgical and medical termination of pregnancies as well as a range of services such as colposcopy, cervical biopsy and other minor gynaecological procedures.

As I have said, there are literally tens of thousands of Victorians waiting on the elective surgery waitlist, and on that waitlist there are many, many women who are waiting for procedures around these important areas that are affecting their gynaecological health. We know that the public health system is under enormous strain and that there are just so many issues going on, and what I am particularly concerned about is the rates of cancer because of an inability to get appropriate screening and biopsies undertaken.

The Hampton Park Women’s Health Clinic has the capacity to perform additional services, and it has put the proposition to Monash Health that it would help reduce their public waitlist for some of these minor gynaecological procedures. That would then enable those women who are waiting on that waitlist to, obviously, get those procedures done in a more timely fashion – get those biopsies undertaken, get the results and get the treatment, should they require it. I am aware that the CEO of the clinic has approached Monash Health and the minister to offer these services in a public and private agreement. So the action I seek is for the minister to progress negotiations on this proposal as a matter of urgency so that more women can access this vital treatment and get the medical management and care that they may need, which could avert some disastrous outcomes for them but also allay any anxiety, and enable those treatments to occur.