SERIOUS illness requiring hospitalisation is a difficulty we all hope to avoid, while getting home promptly to recoup can sometimes present additional challenges.
For patients with a disability, however, getting home often requires planned support and without it, patients can unnecessarily take up valuable hospital beds.
With Goulburn Valley Health feeling the weight of a primary patient catchment in excess of 116,000 and with healthcare workers and paramedics feeling the stress of demand, Liberal Member for Northern Victoria, Wendy Lovell is outraged that GV Health has missed out on the new Pathways to Home Program.
Funded by the State Labor Government, the Pathways to Home Program is designed to get patients with a disability home quicker, thus freeing up more beds for other patients.
Stating that several other regional hospitals had been included in the program, Ms Lovell said that it was a disgrace that the health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, had failed to make the program available locally.
“The omission of GV Health from the Pathways to Home Program is a slap in the face to local patients with a disability and proves Labor has no regard for the healthcare needs of the Goulburn Valley community,” said Ms Lovell.
