Victoria's hospital system is set for a major overhaul after a landmark report found it's "no longer fit for purpose". The state government has accepted 26 of the report's 27 recommendations and will create a new agency to deliver frontline care while cutting spending.
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00:00Well, firstly, she confirmed that $1.5 billion investment into Victorian hospitals, and that's
00:07on top of the $8.8 billion already promised in the budget.
00:12She did confirm there will be major changes.
00:14The only recommendation that is not being accepted from that review is forced amalgamation,
00:20but that doesn't mean the system won't change.
00:23So there'll be a new electronic medical records system, and there'll also be local health
00:28service networks.
00:29Essentially, the state's public hospitals will be grouped into several local networks
00:34or regions, some in metropolitan Melbourne, some in the regions, where small hospitals
00:39will have links to major tertiary hospitals, which is similar to other states.
00:44But here in Victoria, they'll be overseen by a new government agency, Hospitals Victoria,
00:49to streamline systems like payroll and IT.
00:53Here's how Premier Jacinda Allen describes that new agency.
00:58Hospitals Victoria will be a dedicated standalone agency within the Department of Health that
01:03will work directly with hospitals.
01:06It will help support hospitals to have that full focus on patient care instead of the
01:11back office bureaucracy.
01:13Regional health care groups have welcomed the news there won't be forced amalgamations.
01:18That was a real concern, and there were protests out in the regions.
01:21So they've welcomed that news, and so has the Victorian Health Care Association.
01:26But they've taken it with a grain of salt.
01:28They say that the new plans, the new links between regions, really amount to amalgamation
01:35by another name.
01:37So there are concerns there, but they're really welcoming that extra $1.5 billion in funding.
01:43And the opposition has said, well, it's a good start.
01:46It's just not going to go far enough.
01:48They're describing today's announcements as chaos and panic for what they say is a hospital
01:53system in crisis, but the government says it will go a long way to making sure front
01:58line services service Victorians.