Ms Cleeland said the announcement would fail to improve health outcomes for regional Victorians.
One of the recommendations of the Health Services Plan is to formally organise Victoria’s health service sites into Local Health Service Networks representing discrete geographies of appropriate population scale, but no specific networks were announced.
However, Ms Cleeland, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health, warned that centralising local health services could significantly impede patients’ ability to access vital medical care within their own communities.
“The government’s plan is a covert merger that centralises health services at larger hospitals, forcing local residents to travel to Shepparton or Albury for essential care,” Ms Cleeland said.
“But our towns have inadequate public and patient transport options that make it near impossible for everyday people to get to and from hospitals outside of their home town.
“This merger is also adding nearly 100,000 extra patients from NSW into the network under immense pressure, making it even more difficult for local health services to survive.”
The Health Services Plan has 27 recommendations to make the Victorian health system stronger and more connected – while continuing to focus on patients and frontline care — but the government has accepted only 26 of the recommendations.
The government will deliver a number of key reforms in response to these recommendations.
Among the 27 recommendations was the forced amalgamation of health services in the state.
The government has confirmed with The Telegraph that it will not accept the recommendation to forcibly amalgamate, merge or consolidate any of Victoria’s health services.
“Victoria’s health system is one of the best in the world, and these reforms will keep us on track to deliver even better patient care through a reformed health system that is better integrated and connected, at the same time protecting the local services we know Victorians trust and rely on,” a government spokesperson said.
“We will always support our hospitals — because that’s what Labor does.”
Ms Cleeland emphasised that genuine improvement required direct investment in local health services, rather than centralisation.
“Instead of wasting money on more executives and bureaucracy, this government needs to focus on improving the health and lives of regional Victorians,” Ms Cleeland said.
“As things stand, people living in regional areas are already 1.8 times more likely to die from potentially avoidable causes compared to people in major cities. To bring these figures down, investment is needed in our local services.
“This new plan from Labor is not real reform and Victorians are not foolish enough to buy their spin.”
A petition on the Victorian parliament website, closing on Monday, September 9, urges the government to halt what it describes as the proposed merger of Seymour Health.
Of course, the government has since confirmed there will be no forced mergers.
However, the petition, organised by the Seymour Health Protection Group and sponsored by Ms Cleeland, has been signed by more than 150 people.
“This petition is an incredible display of advocacy from Seymour residents that are understandably unhappy with what is happening to their beloved local hospital,” Ms Cleeland said.
Local Health Service Networks have been recommended to be established for Hume, Barwon South West, Grampians, Loddon Mallee and Gippsland, a set-up accepted only in principle by the government.
This means that amendments to groupings and boundaries are likely to be made after further consultation with the sector.
The government will provide guidance to health service boards on principles to underpin Local Health Service Network groupings.
Health services will then be able to propose groupings for their region for approval by government.
The government also clarified that every individual hospital’s board was to remain intact.
