This latest election pledge promises to deliver an extra 25,000 surgeries a year through the proposed SurgerySooner program.
The program would partner with more than 100 private hospitals and day surgeries across the state with the aim of making better use of existing capacity.
It’s proposed to cover surgeries including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery, hernia repairs, gynaecological procedures, gastroscopies and colonoscopies.
State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland said the plan would transform regional patients’ access to health services.
“People in our communities are waiting for surgery, and for some, that wait is affecting their ability to work, care for their families and get on with their lives,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Regional Victorians already travel further for specialist care. They shouldn’t then have to wait even longer for treatment.
“If a private hospital has capacity, public patients should be able to use it without paying.”
The model is currently used in Queensland, with a reported 38 per cent reduction in patients waiting longer than clinically recommended.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Queensland is already doing this, and we should be doing the same in Victoria,” Ms Cleeland said.
Ms Cleeland said the program would work by freeing up ward beds for patients waiting in emergency.
“When beds are tied up by patients who are ready to go home, it puts even more pressure on emergency departments, nurses, doctors and paramedics,” Ms Cleeland said.
“A patient who is ready to leave should have a safe space to wait. That frees up a bed for the next person who needs it and helps get ambulances back on the road.”
SurgerySooner would cost the state $1.27 billion over four years and is proposed to be funded by the winding up of Breakthrough Victoria, a state government-owned investment program designed to fund innovation, research and high-growth businesses.
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