Liberals promise $900m new Royal Children Hospital campus in Werribee
The Health Minister says the opposition has not properly thought out its health project plans after it pledged a major cash splash on a children’s hospital in Werribee.
Victoria
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Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas has called on the opposition to outline how it will staff its election commitments, hitting back at their plan for new health projects.
The Liberals and Nationals on Thursday revealed they would build a new children’s hospital in Werribee if elected in November.
Under the pledge, Melbourne’s western suburbs would get a new $900m Royal Children’s Hospital campus in Werribee.
It is Opposition Leader Matthew Guy’s biggest health funding announcement to date and brings the number of major hospitals he has promised to build or redevelop to 11.
“As Premier, my first priority will be to fix the health crisis and ensure all Victorians can get the care they deserve,” he said.
“For too long, Melbourne’s west has been overlooked and taken for granted. A government I lead will respect, invest and deliver for the fastest growing community in the state.
“This vital hospital is a real solution to fix the health crisis and will mean better healthcare, closer to home, for Wyndham communities and surrounding areas.”
The commitment is the latest salvo in a major blitz through which the opposition is aiming to position itself as the party of health.
Responding to the plan on Thursday, Ms Thomas attacked the opposition by claiming their proposals weren’t properly thought out.
“Our government has a number of health infrastructure projects, and they are all fully staffed, fully funded,” she said.
“What we’ve seen from the Liberals is a list of partially funded infrastructure projects that will be shells because there’s just been no announcement in relation to staffing these facilities.
“Our government is implementing a plan right now to recruit and train an additional health care workforce of which 5000 will be nurses.”
Premier Daniel Andrews said he did not have announcements to make about matching the Coalition’s Werribee commitment.
But he said the government had built a new women’s and children’s hospital at Sunshine and there was also a redevelopment at the Werribee Mercy Hospital.
“I would point out, of course, that I think the Children’s Hospital is a unique place,” Mr Andrews said.
“Part of its strength is that there’s a concentration of all of the skills and abilities and research.
“It’s a centre of excellence and it’s very special.
“It’s absolutely unique, it’s the best children’s hospital I think in the world.”
Mr Andrews announced on Thursday that two new free respiratory clinics for children would open in the next month.
The first clinic, located at the Royal Children’s Hospital will open from Monday and allow kids with low to moderate symptoms to get free treatment without visiting emergency departments.
It is expected the two clinics will receive about 150 patients a week.
Mr Andrews said the government needed to set up these programs because of difficulties accessing GPs
“It is just getting harder every single day to find a bulk-billing doctor, a free medical appointment,” he said.
“If hospitals have to be hospitals and Medicare that will always put massive pressure on our nurses and doctors and those in our hospitals.
“That’s why it’s really important that we’ve got a new federal government that does have a plan.
“They have made some commitments, and I’m sure that their budget later in the year will make a fast start and try to deliver those commitments.”
Meanwhile, Wyndham City Council Mayor Peter Maynard supported the proposal.
“Anything that’s going to advance the health of our young people, there are about 120 to 130 babies born a week here,” he said.
“We certainly welcome the announcement and will work with all candidates and try to get the same commitment.”
GP at MyClinic in Werribee, Dr Joe Garra also backed the idea.
“It’ll fill a need that’ll be there when the hospital is finished, not just the current need,” he said.
“We have about 300,000 people in the area and that’s predicted to be over 400,000”
”A lot of our patients take their kids straight to the RCH if they are unwell.”
“Because (Werribee Mercy) is not a specialist children’s hospital you can’t keep kids who are particularly unwell.”
Dr Garra backed building the hospital in East Werribee and said it would provide more local jobs that would stop people having to leave the area for work.
It comes after the opposition pledged to shelve the Suburban Rail Loop and move its funding towards fixing the health system.
In a high-stakes move, Mr Guy has pledged to scrap the Suburban Rail Loop project, and divert all available funds into restoring the broken health system.
The Andrews government is committed to building the $34.5bn Cheltenham to Box Hill stage of the loop, due to be completed in 2035.
Other Liberals health commitments already announced include $750m for a new Mildura hospital, $400m for a new infectious diseases response centre, and free public transport for healthcare workers.
Mr Guy said the latest promise meant the heart of Melbourne’s west would have a dedicated, world-class healthcare facility supporting children and families. The new Royal Children’s Hospital Werribee would include an emergency department, with its final location and range of services to be determined following consultation with the Royal Children’s Hospital and local communities across the City of Wyndham.
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the government’s mismanagement of the health system since 2014 had pushed it to breaking point.
Almost 90,000 Victorians are now waiting for critical surgery, while fewer than two in three ambulance call-outs arrived within the target 15-minute time frame.
Most calls to triple-0 are not being answered on time and ambulance ramping at hospitals remains a critical issue.
“For decades under Daniel Andrews and Labor, health in Melbourne’s west has been neglected meaning too many families have struggle to get the care they need, when they need it,” she said.
“The health infrastructure shortages across this area are now critical.
“Only a change of government will deliver the hospitals and healthcare these growing communities deserve.”
Coalition strategists expect the announcement to help them gain ground in key seats in Melbourne’s west.
Swings away from Labor in the west, a traditional heartland area, have been sparked by anger at the government over its handling of the pandemic and lockdowns.
Mr Guy has also committed to providing mental health professionals in every Victorian school.
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