A Liberal and Nationals Government will halve Victoria’s elective surgery waitlist and build new patient discharge lounges to free up hospital beds.
The Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland said the plan would transform regional patients’ access to health services.
The Liberals and Nationals have committed to delivering an extra 25,000 surgeries a year if elected this November, giving public patients the choice to have their surgery at a private hospital at no cost.
The SurgerySooner program will partner with more than 100 private hospitals and day surgeries across Victoria to make better use of existing capacity.
Ms Cleeland said SurgerySooner would cover procedures including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery, hernia repairs, gynaecological procedures, gastroscopies and colonoscopies.
Victoria’s elective surgery waitlist has grown to almost 69,000 people under Labor, more than 10,000 higher than this time last year.
“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.”
Queensland already uses this approach through its Surgery Connect program. It has reported a 38 per cent reduction in patients waiting longer than clinically recommended.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Queensland is already doing this, and we should be doing the same in Victoria.”
Labor promised an extra 40,000 elective surgeries a year before the 2022 election, then abandoned that commitment in 2024.
A $99 million fund will also deliver up to 10 new or expanded patient discharge lounges at Victorian hospitals.
Ms Cleeland said these give patients who were re medically ready to go home a dedicated space to wait for medication, transport or final discharge arrangements, 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 place to wait. That frees up a bed for the next person who needs it and helps get ambulances back on the road.”
Under Labor, almost one in three emergency department patients are not seen within the recommended time.
The discharge lounge fund will prioritise hospitals where ambulance ramping is most severe. It will also support extra staff and extended hours where suitable facilities already exist.
“Regional Victorians shouldn’t have to wait longer simply because of where they live,” Ms Cleeland said.
SurgerySooner will cost $1.27 billion over four years, funded by winding up Breakthrough Victoria.
