(Unfortunately, it has not been possible to continue this page beyond September 2000.  However, State Opposition Media Releases and news releases, articles, speeches etc by Robert Clark are continuing, as well as pages on Robert Clark's portfolio areas.  See also our News Links page.)

2000

Ambulance bypasses and waiting times increase

The Opposition says that the incidence of ambulance bypasses for the June 2000 quarter increased 285 per cent on the same period last year, the number of emergency patients waiting more than 12 hours on a trolley increased 54 per cent, the number of patients waiting more than 90 days for elective surgery increased 57 per cent, and the number of patients on Victoria's elective surgery waiting list was up 1968. (27 Sep)

Government guts ambulance Royal Commission

The Government's decision to gut the terms of reference of the Royal Commission into the Metropolitan Ambulance Service is a travesty of justice, according to the Opposition. (25 Sep)

Monash surgery cancellations for almost 3 months

According to the Opposition, category two and three patients have been denied access to elective surgery at Monash Medical Centre for the past two months, with the three week cancellation of elective surgery coming on top. (9 Sep)

Elective surgery cancelled for 3 weeks

The Opposition says that Victoria's public hospital system is suffering its deepest crisis in more than a decade, with elective surgery cancelled for three weeks and waiting lists set to rise above 40,000. (8 Sep)

Hospital trolley waiting lists hit record

More emergency patients ae waiting on hospital trolleys in Melbourne than ever before, according to the Opposition. (6 Sep)

Opposition announces drugs policy

The Opposition has announced a drug policy including 250 extra police dedicated to combatting drugs, 500 more detoxification and rehabilitation beds, compulsory treatment for overdose victims, obligatory exchange of needles at needle exchanges and a full time student welfare co-ordinator at every government secondary school.  (11 Aug)

Opposition to vote against injecting rooms

The Opposition has announced that it will vote against introducing heroin injecting rooms in Victoria. (11 Aug)

Government "must appeal" IVF decision

The Opposition has called on the Government to appeal against the Federal Court's decision to allow single women and those in lesbian relationships the right to infertility treatment. (6 Aug)

Increase in hospital waiting times

Figures to March 2000 show that periods of ambulance bypass of pubic hospitals rose in the quarter to 565, compared to 72 in the March 1999 quarter; patients waiting on trolleys for a hospital bed more than doubled from 647 in the March 1999 quarter to 1396; and 11 patients were waiting more than 30 days for urgent treatment.  As well, waiting lists for elective surgery have risen by 2201 patients.  (23 July)

$34.6m for metropolitan health services

The Government will provide $34.6 million in one-off funds to the Melbourne, Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre, Northern and Eastern metropolitan health services. (29 June)

Biotechnology precinct launched

The Premier has launched Bio21, a $400 million biotechnology precinct at Parkville funded by the University of Melbourne ($50 million), the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research ($4 million), the State Government ($50 million), private investors and developers ($262 million) and philanthropic donations ($34 million). (26 June)

New needle exchange programs

The Government has funded a range of new needle exchange programs in Melbourne suburbs and Geelong. (23 June)

Community Support Fund restructured

The Government has announced revised guidelines for the CSF, under which the Government says $100 million of annual CSF funding will be spent in three main areas of "Promoting Responsible Gambling", "Community Building" and "Broader Community Benefit".  The Government has also established a "Community Advisory Council" of Government appointees to "oversee" the Fund. (20 June)

VicOne connects south-west hospitals

The VicOne project established by the previous Government has enabled hospitals in south-west Victoria to order prescriptions and tests over the Internet and cut the costs of video conferencing, with 33 hospitals and associated community health-centres being connected to the broadband network under a $9.8 million project of the South West Alliance of Rural Hospitals (SWARH). (20 June)

Injecting room legislation introduced

The Government has introduced into Parliament legislation for an18-month trial of up to five supervised injecting rooms across Melbourne. (1 June)

Opposition calls for Bionic Ear support

The Opposition has called on the Government to match the former government's four-year $20 million pledge to provide Bionic Ears for all hearing-impaired children who could benefit from them, stating that there was no money allocated for the provision of Bionic Ears for children in this year's State Budget, nor in any forward estimates. (30 May)

Schools developing asbestos plans

Schools that have received some of the 195 asbestos affected portable classrooms are now being assisted by the Education Department to develop asbestos risk management and containment plans to nullify any health risks to children and teachers, according to the Opposition. (25 May)

Health network restructuring "won't achieve saving"

TheGovernment's promise to save $18 million by abolishing Victoria's health care networks has been exposed as unachievable by the Government's Ministerial Review of Health Care Networks, according to the Opposition. (11 May)

Aged Care Minister "dodged questions" on Namarra Nursing Home care

The Opposition has critised the Minister for Aged Care over the welfare of elderly residents at Namarra Nursing Home in Caulfield, including a patient covered with ants. (11 May)

(Unfortunately, news items between 10 March and 9 May have not been included, due to pressure of other commitments.)

Reintroduction of State regulation of nursing homes

The Government proposes to introduce legislation providing for State regulation of nursing homes, overturning legislation passed in Victoria in 1995 to implement Keating Government policy for Commonwealth regulation of nursing homes. (25 Feb)

"First Responder" pilot extended

The pioneering "First Responder" pilot program established by the previous Government which allows qualified fire officers to administer life saving treatment to cardiac arrest victims has been renewed and extended by the new Government to cover the Melbourne metropolitan fire district for a further 12 month pilot period from February. (4 Jan)

1999

Design guide for patient handling launched

New guidelines for the design of health and aged care facilities were an example of Victoria leading the way on health and safety in building design The Minister for WorkCover has launched the publication, Designing Workplaces for Safer Handling of Patients/Residents: Guidelines for the Design of Health and Aged Care Facilities, at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.  The guidelines were developed by a working party as part of WorkCover's Health and Aged Care Project. (13 Dec)

Penington to chair injecting facility committee

The Premier has announced the appointment of Dr David Penington to head an expert committee to oversee the implementation of medically supervised injecting facilities. (8 Nov)

Hospital Networks Review Panel to be established

The new Government is to establish an expert review panel to report early next year on management arrangements for metropolitan hospitals and how the abolition of hospital networks is to achieve the promised savings of $18 million, with the Government "committed to achieving these savings and directing them to improved infection control and cleaning in hospitals and additional beds associated with emergency care." ""Without pre-empting the review", the model favoured by the Government is for smaller groups of hospitals and other agencies working in partnership across sectors such as acute care, aged care and mental health. (1 Nov)

Coalition will offer more drug withdrawal units, opposed to ‘injecting houses’

A Coalition Government will set up four new residential drug withdrawal units for young people so that drug workers can take more addicts from the court system into treatment. (29 Aug)

Palliative Care Awareness Training Kit released

Health and Aged Care Minister Rob Knowles has launched Victoria University of Technology’s Palliative Care Awareness Training Kit. (25 Aug)

Trauma centre opened at the Alfred

The Premier, Mr Kennett, has opened the new $9.1 million emergency department and trauma centre at the Alfred Hospital in Prahran. (22 Aug)

Funding for upgrades to bush nursing hospitals

Thirty-five bush nursing hospitals and centres around Victoria are to share more than $2.58 million in Victorian Government funding to upgrade facilities and buy new equipment. (17 Aug)

Reform of Primary Health and Community Support Services

The Minister for Health and Aged Care, Rob Knowles, has announced a $40-million reform over four years of Primary Health and Community Support Services. (13 Aug)

100 doctors sought for the bush

The Victorian Government aims to recruit 100 overseas-trained doctors by Christmas to help overcome the shortage of general practitioners in rural areas. (30 July)

Forensic services integrated and expanded

Attorney-General Jan Wade, speaking at the start of construction of extensions to the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) in Southbank, said that victims of sexual assault would soon have access to specialised hospitals and centres for forensic procedures and improved follow-up services. (28 July)

Multilingual guide to calling an ambulance

The Minister for Health, Rob Knowles has launched a booklet How to Call an Ambulance, which is designed to break down language barriers in life-threatening emergencies. (28 July)

New service for hearing-impaired children in Blackburn

The Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles, has officially opened the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital service at the Taralye Audiology and Otology Centre at Blackburn. (28 July)

Nurses’ injury prevention program expanded

The Victorian Government will contribute an extra $1.2 million to expand a project to help prevent and reduce back injuries among nurses working in our public hospitals, the Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles has announced. (14 July)

Victoria’s hospitals will be GST free

The Health Minister, Rob Knowles, has confirmed that services and standards in Victoria’s public hospitals will not be affected by the Federal Government’s Goods and Services Tax (GST). (2 July)

MAS demand still high

Demand for ambulance attendance in Greater Melbourne remains high, with more than 46,500 emergency cases — an average of more than 500 per day — attended by the Metropolitan Ambulance Service in the March quarter of 1999.

Good results in HIV/AIDS treatment evaluation report

Independent consultants, Health Outcomes International, have found that patients now have greater access to a wider range of disciplines and services than previously following the relocation of HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases services.

New guide for teenagers

The Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles has launched a booklet, Adolescent Health and Well Being: A Guide to Effective Coping, for the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre.

Stage One of Royal Melbourne upgrade completed

Stage One of the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s $51-million redevelopment has been completed.

$13-million upgrade for Williamstown Hospital

Health and Aged Care Minister Rob Knowles has announced a $9 million first stage of a $13 million redevelopment for Williamstown Hospital.

Funds devoted to Y2K problem

The Victorian Government has targeted $115 million to safeguard Human Services agencies from the Year 2000 "Millennium Bug".

Training program for HIV/AIDS carers in rural Victoria

The Victorian Government has provided $100,000 for the establishment of an integrated technology system in rural Victoria to distribute a carers’ information package and a rural HIV/AIDS carers’ training program.

Comment sought on ambulance services review

An independent report reviewing Victoria's ambulance services has been released to the industry and the community for comment.

Federal-Budget initiatives in health welcome

The health initiatives in the Federal Budget will boost medical research, ease the pressure on the public hospital system through increasing private health insurance, and improve services in rural Victoria, according to the Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles.

Wonthaggi Hospital redevelopment

The Victorian Government will spend $4.5 million on a major redevelopment project at the Wonthaggi Hospital.

Better Health Channel funded by budget

One of the initiatives to be launched as a result of the Budget is the Better Health Channel, which will incorporate information for consumers about health conditions, healthy living, life events, support and advice as well as the Department’s guide to local health services.

$200m capital works for human services

The State budget includes $200-million of capital works for upgrades to hospitals across Victoria, new ambulances and new equipment.

Funding for Royal Dental hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital

The Royal Dental Hospital is to undergo a $31.4-million relocation and rebuilding program on a site opposite Melbourne University, replacing the outdated facility in Flemington Road.

Budget help for families at risk

The State Government will spend $9 million on a new program that targets the health and development of Victorian children and adolescents at high risk.

Health budget tops $5 billion

Victorian health services will receive an extra $147 million in the 1999-2000 budget, a growth of 3.0% since last year.

Reforms to Guardianship and Administration Act

Significant reforms to the Guardianship and Administration Act will give recognition to the valuable contribution made by families and carers of people with disabilities.

Ambulance studies centre for Frankston

The Victorian Government will provide $3 million to build a Monash University Centre for Ambulance and Paramedic Studies at the University’s Peninsula campus at Frankston, in a new approach to ambulance education and training.

Funds for research into rural health

A $3.5-million package of 64 research and health promotion projects is aimed at improving the health of rural Victorians.

Initiatives in nursing

The Victorian Government is supporting a campaign by the Royal College of Nursing Australia to attract graduates into nursing and to raise the profile of the profession.

‘Birralee’ maternity centre opened at Box Hill Hospital

Box Hill Hospital has developed a new way to help mothers during pregnancy and childbirth.

Three hospitals to become trauma centres

Major Trauma Services will be established at three key Melbourne hospitals as part of a system to further reduce road deaths.

Drug withdrawal unit opened

The Victorian Government has established a $1.2-million drug withdrawal centre in Melbourne’s north-east.

MAS attends record number of emergencies

The Metropolitan Ambulance Service attended more than 47,500 emergency cases - an average of more than 500 per day - in the December quarter of 1998.

Public consultation on Health Services Act

The Minister for Health, Rob Knowles, has launched a consultant’s review into the Health Services Act and urges the community to take part in the ensuing eight-week consultation process.

New Multi-Purpose Services for rural health

The Victorian Government plans to establish up to five new Multi-Purpose Services (MPSs) over the next year to expand health and primary care services in small rural communities.

Advertisements placed for Emergency Services mobile data provision

The first stage of acquiring advanced mobile data technology for emergency services has been publicly advertised on 20 February.

New funding for bush nursing hospitals

Victoria's bush nursing hospitals and centres will receive State Government funding for the first time in history to buy new equipment and improve buildings.

1998

New food hygiene strategy

The Food Act 1984 has been amended to introduce new registration regulations and hygiene standards for all Victorian food businesses.

Active Life Campaign

The Ministers for Health and Sport have launched an advertising campaign to encourage inactive people over 50 to enjoy regular physical activity.  (News Release, Minister for Health and Minister for Sport, 7 Dec 1998)  See also the Active for Life Strategy.

New food hygiene training program

The Minister for Training, Phil Honeywood, has launched a new national training program in food hygiene which has been developed by the University of Ballarat (TAFE Division) and Australia's largest food wholesaler, Davids Limited.

Allocation of $134m extra Medicare funding

The Minister for Health has announced the allocation of the $134 million for the State’s public hospitals gained as a result of the Australian Health Care Agreement (Medicare Agreement) recently reached with the Commonwealth Government.

'A Guide to Your Local Health Services'

'A Guide to Your Local Health Services', a 100-page directory to health services in the Eastern Suburbs was launched on November 16.

Review of Ambulance Services Discussion Paper

A Review of the Ambulance Services Act 1986 was instigated earlier this year, to examine its continued relevance in light of National Competition Policy (NCP) requirements. The review will also incorporate the development of legislative proposals to underpin the recently announced amalgamation of rural ambulance services, and will include updating provisions of the Act in line with contemporary practice.

Expansion of Palliative Care Funding

The Minister for Health, Mr. Knowles, has announced additional funding to increase the number of Palliative Care beds from 154 to 243 and provide Victorians with statewide access for the first time. The total funding increase is $8.5 million, which will increase current capacity by 58 per cent.

Cannabis and Psychosis Education and Research Project

As part of its ongoing Turning the Tide strategy to combat drug abuse, the State government has commenced a $750,000 project to inform the community of the potential hazards of cannabis (marijuana) use and conduct extensive research into the links between such use and the development of mental illnesses (psychoses).

New Focus on Child Health

The State Government is to introduce a series of new child public health initiatives based on the recently completed report, The Health of Young Victorians.

Casemix Funding

The Medical Journal of Australia, 19 October edition, has a detailed supplement on issues relating to casemix funding.  As the introduction by Ralph Hanson observes:

Despite initial scepticism, particularly by clinicians, casemix has remained integral to healthcare reform in Australia. ... Following Victoria's lead, the past four years have seen both the introduction and the practical application of casemix in most States and Territories in Australia.

Metropolitan Ambulance Service 'Response Report' September 1998

The latest quarterly ‘Response Report’ of the Metropolitan Ambulance Service (MAS) has shown a continuing increase in the demand for ambulance attendances.

New education resources for asthma sufferers

The Victorian Government has developed a set of standards designed to assist health professionals to produce quality written asthma education resources for sufferers.

'Active for Life' Physical Activity Strategy

The key message of the Government’s physical activity strategy is ‘Just find 30 minutes a day’, and is based on substantial scientific evidence that regular moderate physical activity will significantly improve the health and well-being of people of all ages

Chinese Medicine to be registered in Victoria

Victoria is to become the first jurisdiction outside of China to provide for the statutory registration of practitioners of Chinese Medicine.

$267 million health package

The Minister for Health, Mr. Knowles, has outlined details of the $267 million package of healthcare spending resulting from the State Budget and the new Medicare agreement.

Waiting list report released

The Minister for Health, Mr. Knowles, has released a report by Dr Bernard Clarke and Professor Richard Bennett, who investigated recent allegations of waiting list manipulation in Victorian hospitals.

Despite allegations by the President of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Medical Association, a detailed examination has found no evidence that seriously ill patients (Category 1) are being denied access to needed surgery or being inappropriately reclassified to a less urgent category. The Report did, however, make a range of observations and recommendations on the State's health system.  (See Review of Elective Surgery Waiting Lists, September 4, 1998.)

The Report contains two striking graphs showing the numbers of patients treated in public hospitals, and waiting list times, over recent years:

Ambulance fees rise to fund expansion

Ambulance fees increased substantially from 1 September under the pricing restructure announced on August 6 this year.

New Medicare agreement reached

Victoria has agreed to sign the new Medicare agreement proposed by the Commonwealth Government, which will result in around $500 million in additional funding to Victorian public hospitals over the next five years.

$30 million ambulance expansion plan

The Minister for Health, Mr Knowles, has announced plans for major expansion of Melbourne’s ambulance services over the next three years.

Review of Dentists Act 1972 and Dental Technicians Act 1972

A Review of the present legislative structures of the dental industry has been conducted as part of the Victorian Government’s Review of Legislative Restrictions on Competition under National Competition Policy.

The Opposition has pointed to recent high levels of ambulance by-passes and questioned the accuracy of the Government's Winter Beds Strategy numbers. (1 Aug)

The Opposition has called on the Government not scrap physical education from the Victorian school curriculum. (20 July)

Specialist teams would be established through the Department of Human Services, to assist local government with early prosecution work on illegal sales of tobacco to minors.   Adolescents are to be employed in "sting" operations to catch retailers. (4 July)  The Opposition says the proposal is ridiculous. (4 July)

Dr Joanna Flynn has been appointed president of the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria, replacing outgoing president, Dr Kerry Breen. (29 June)

Expert opinion has predicted that the Government's restructure of health networks would result in elective surgery being abandoned at Sandringham Hospital, according to the Shadow Minister for Health. (25 June)

The Government has established a steering committee to review health services in the outer east, chaired by the Director of Policy Development and Planning within the Department of Human Services, Shane Solomon. (20 June)

Ms Patricia Faulkner had been appointed as the new Secretary of the Department of Human Services. (19 June)

The latest report of the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity shows 17.6 per cent of the 61,924 births recorded in 1998 were to women of 35 or older, compared with 6.8 per cent of births in 1984. (16 June)

The Cities of Port Phillip and Yarra must hold plebiscites to accurately gauge community opinion on heroin injecting rooms, and identify potential sites, according to the Opposition. (18 June)

Victoria's Mental Health Library is now available on-line at www.nwhcn.org.au/library. (15 June)

The Government is increasing funding for dental treatment for concession-card holders and dependants in Melbourne's east by $872,000, from $1.6 million in 1998/1999 to $2.5 million in 1999/2000,  to more than $1 million now for Monash community health service, $592,370 for Knox, $577,791 for Maroondah Hospital and $388,258 for Whitehorse, representing  171 per cent more for Whitehorse, followed by Knox (53 per cent), Maroondah Hospital (49 per cent) and Monash (30 per cent), with two dental clinics being created as part of the development of new facilities for the Knox and Ranges community health services, meaning 10 and six chairs respectively. (15 June)

The Opposition has called on the Government to build a new tertiary hospital in the outer eastern suburbs following its decision to scrap the Knox Hospital. (14 June)

The Government will provide an additional $1 million a year to care for people with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), the Aged Care Minister has announced. (13 June)

The Minister for Health has deferred the implementation of Food Safety Plans for small businesses to allow further consultation with the industry. (8 June)

The Minister for Consumer Affairs has called on consumers to throw away banned, potentially lethal lead wick candles, following information they are still being sold in suburban Melbourne and Geelong. (8 June)

The Government has launched a drug education kit Get Wise: Working on Illicits in School Education  which will be given to all primary and secondary schools in the Victoria. (8 June)

The Government has announced a range of drug treatment services. (6 June)

The Government will provide the Cities of Greater Dandenong, Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Port Phillip and Yarra $25,000 each to prepare local drug strategies with a further further $20,000 available for councils that wish to proceed with preparing protocols for supervised injecting facilities in their municipality. (26 May)

(Unfortunately, news items have not been included between 10 March and 9 May, due to pressure of other commitments.)

The Government has claimed the previous Government planned to privatise 3000 State nursing home beds, and says that instead it will spend $47 million on rebuilding and upgrading them in public ownership. (1 Mar)

The Minister for Women's Affairs has launched a website for people in the south-eastern suburbs to assist them in dealing with sexual assault, at www.med.monash.edu.au/secas. (24 Feb)

The Government is establishing a Ministerial Advisory Committee on Gay and Lesbian Health, which will be asked to develop an "action plan" within a 12 month time frame. (21 Jan)

The Government has announced that Victoria's statewide and specialist mental health services, including eating disorders and adult acute inpatient will be reviewed. (19 Jan)

The Government has released copies of the Hospital Services Report for the March and June 1999 quarters. (12 Jan)

The Government has announced a Primary Care Partnerships policy in place of the Primary Health and Community Support policy of the previous Government , for primary care services including home nursing, physiotherapy, chiropody, dental services, home care givers, personal support for people with a mental illness and respite care for people with a disability. (4 Jan)

1999

The Government has approved a $6.5 million dollar redevelopment of the Warragul Hospital. (21 Dec)

The State Government has substantially increased penalties for trafficking anabolic steroids under new regulations. (21 Dec)

The State Government has abolished tendering for the provision of drug and alcohol services and instead will provide ongoing funding to agencies. (21 Dec)

The Minister for Health has launched a new ambulance subscription package offering discounts on various goods and services, under an agreement between the Metropolitan Ambulance Service, Rural Ambulance Victoria and private sector businesses. (21 Dec)

The Government has announced terms of reference for the Intergraph Royal Commission. (21 Dec)

The Government has endorsed the Department of Human Services' Working Together Strategy developed under the previous Government to foster better relations between the key areas of Child Protection, Mental Health, Drug Treatment Services and Juvenile Justice. (21 Dec)

The Minister for Health says the Government has implemented those aspects of the Smallwood review of blood transfusion arrangements which are within the responsibility of the Department of Human Services, and that the Government is providing $100,000 to the Australian Red Cross to allow directed parent to child donations in Victoria. (9 Dec)

The Premier has announced the appointment of Mr Lex Lasry QC to conduct the Integraph Royal Commission.  The Terms of Reference have not yet been developed.  (9 Dec)

Best Practice Guidelines for Cleaning Hospitals are currently being finalised by the Department of Human Services and should be ready by the end of this month. Health experts will conduct random inspections of hospitals to ensure the new guidelines are being followed, and $2.1 million has been allocated to assist public hospitals implement the new guidelines. (2 Dec)

The Continuing Care Unit for HIV/AIDS patients at the Alfred Hospital will be built as a priority, with construction of the $2.9 million facility staring in December and a completion date of August 2000. (1 Dec)

The Minister for Health has made a series of allegations about planning for the Knox Hospital proposed by the previous Government. (1 Dec)

The Minister for Health has officially opened an expanded spinal rehabilitation facility at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre in Kew, paid for by $300,000 of additional funding provided under the previous Government. (17 Nov)

Health and Aged Care Minister Rob Knowles has launched a collection of writings and artwork by bereaved children and young people. I Will Remember These Things Forever, unveiled during National Loss and Grief Week, is compiled from experiences of young people seen by bereavement support groups. (2 Sep)

The Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles, has handed over to the Victorian AIDS Council a cheque to allow it to relocate its Positive Living Centre to new $3-million premises at 31-51 Commercial Rd South Yarra. The Council is purchasing the building from Vision Australia, which is relocating its Braille Library to an extension to be built at its Kooyong complex. (27 August)

Victoria has received more than 580 applications since it launched its world-wide campaign to attract overseas-trained doctors to live and work in the state less than a month ago. Health and Aged Care Minister Rob Knowles said the response meant Victoria was well placed to reach its target to recruit 100 General Practitioners to country areas by Christmas. (27 August)

The Chronic Illness Support Program (ChIPS), an innovative peer support program to assist young people living with chronic medical conditions, has won a major public health award. ChIPS is run by chronically ill young people for chronically ill young people. (26 August)

The new St Vincent’s BreastScreen and assessment service at St Vincent’s Hospital has been opened. The service plans to screen 44,000 women during 1999-2000. The other four urban screening centres are in Elsternwick, Camberwell, Preston and Greensborough. (26 August)

Health and Aged Care Minister Rob Knowles has opened a second $3.7-million Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) facility at Monash’s MRI centre. The Victorian Government funded the capital costs to purchase the original MRI unit, with the Southern Health Care Network agreeing to fund the operating costs. The Network has provided $2.5 million for the second scanner and $1.2 million for building costs. (29 July)

The Victorian Government is to provide $800,000 over five years to establish Australia’s first Chair of Clinical Physiotherapy — in the University of Melbourne — at the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre, and to fund research support. (28 July)

Health and Aged Care Minister Rob Knowles has launched VicHealth’s Strategic Directions 1999-2002, which targets tobacco control, mental health, physical activity, healthy eating and substance abuse. (28 July)

The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved the Victorian-produced flu treatment, Relenza, which was co-developed by Biota Holdings and US company GlaxoWellcome. (28 July)

Professor Dick Smallwood, Professor of Medicine at the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre, will conduct a review of the processes leading to a patient being infected with HIV after receiving a blood transfusion. The review could also look at current testing procedures for blood donated during the "window period" when antibodies to the HIV virus have not fully formed and are difficult to detect. (28 July)

The Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Robert Doyle, has launched Community Participation in Community Health PHACS Information Resource 3, a document that encourages Primary Health and Community Support services to establish avenues for the involvement of consumers, carers and the community in health-services delivery. (26 July)

The Premier has officially opened the new $11.3-million Cranbourne Integrated Care Centre, which will provide community health services including physiotherapy, children’s allied health, family mental health, occupational and speech therapy, dental services and child psychology, counselling and support. (25 July)

The St John Ambulance Service is to receive more than $230,000 in State Government Funding for two projects: $112,700 towards the upgrade of its state-wide radio communication system and $118,000 towards the upgrade of the Douglas Donald Camp at Wesburn, 70kms from Melbourne. (23 July)

Health Minister Rob Knowles has launched the Gestational Diabetes Screening, Management and Follow-Up Chart, new clinical management guidelines for gestational diabetes mellitus, a transient form of diabetes during pregnancy. (23 July)

The Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles, has opened Dandenong Hospital’s cardiac catheterisation lab, a state-of-the-art facility that will play a key role in the detection and treatment of heart disease. The Victorian Government provided $1.8 million towards new high-tech equipment at the hospital. (21 July)

Health and Aged Care Minister Rob Knowles, opening the new Berwick office of the Eastern Regions Mental Health Association, announced that the agency will receive $1.2 million in State funding in 1999-2000. (21 July)

The Minister for Health, Rob Knowles, has announced new timelines for food businesses to register Food Safety Programs. Food business operators can call a hotline if they have any queries - 1300 364 352. (15 July)

The Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles, has announced the merger of Warrnambool and Corangamite hospital services into South West Healthcare. (14 July)

Doctors working in Victoria’s public hospitals have won a salary increase of 9% over three years, the Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles has announced. The agreement covers hospital-employed doctors, medical officers, medical registrars and visiting medical officers. (14 July)

The Member for Bayswater, Gordon Ashley, representing Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles, has launched the new Palliative Care Victoria booklet, About Palliative Care, which contains answers to the most frequently asked questions about care for the terminally ill. (12 July)

The State Government and the Transport Accident Commission are to provide an extra $100 million in funding over five years to the new Victorian State Trauma System. The Ministerial Taskforce key recommendations, including the designation of the Alfred, Royal Melbourne and Royal Children's Hospital as Major Trauma Services, will be implemented over the next two years. (18 June)

The Victorian Government will provide the Chinese community in the eastern suburbs with an extra $32,000 to employ a mental-health worker for 12 months to build linkages with non-government and mainstream mental-health services. (18 June)

A new, 24-hour mental-health facility in Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs houses all local psychiatric services under one roof. The Victorian Government has invested $1.7 million in the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre North-Eastern Area Community Health Service. (17 June)

Parliamentary Secretary for Health Robert Doyle has officially opened The Footbridge - St Vincent's Hospital's Mental Health Service Community Care Unit in North Fitzroy - on behalf of Health and Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles. (16 June)

Victorians with severe or borderline personality disorders will soon have a new Statewide service to improve mental-health treatment closer to home. The specialist Statewide personality disorder service, Spectrum, is to be based at Maroondah Hospital. (16 June)

Victoria's tourism industry stands to benefit greatly from a major Australian study identifying older travellers as an as yet largely untapped market force, Health and Aged Care Minister Rob Knowles said, launching the national seniors tourism report Not Over The Hill: Just Enjoying The View. The report states that three-quarters of Australia's older people travelled last year. (11 June)

The Minister for Health and Aged Care, Rob Knowles, has called for nominations for the annual Victorian Nurses Care Awards for nurses whose work has had a positive and beneficial effect on patients, families and the nursing profession as a whole. (11 June)

The Youth and Community Services Minister and local Portland MP, Dr Denis Napthine, has officially opened the Sheppard Community Health Centre at the Penshurst & District Health Service, a member of the Western District Health Service. The Victorian Government provided $200,000 towards the cost of the $421,000 project. (6 June)

Ballarat has a new $1-million catheterisation laboratory at its St John of God Health Care site. The laboratory will provide cardiac angiography treatment for patients with extensively diseased cardiovascular vessels. (4 June)

The State Government has launched the Rural Health Matters: Rural Health Strategic Directions 1999-2009, which promotes fitness and healthy lifestyles as the key to improving the health of country Victorians. (28 May)

The theme of this year's Kidney Awareness Week for the Australian Kidney Foundation is Healthy Kidneys: Healthy Life, and people are encouraged to drink plenty of water to ensure optimum kidney function. (31 May)

A travelling exhibition exploring the changing historical experiences of ageing in Victoria this century shows how our older people now live longer, healthier and more productively. Living Old: Then & Now illustrates the major social and medical changes that have shaped society's experience of ageing since Federation in 1901. (31 May)

Broadmeadows Health Service and the Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital have combined as part of a Victorian Government plan to bring ophthalmology services to Melbourne's outer suburbs. (21 May)

The Premier, Mr Kennett, has given the go ahead for construction of a new $1.5-million Latrobe Community Health Service's Centre at Moe. (18 May)

A new medical equipment manufacturing facility has been opened in Braeside. Surgicare Pty Ltd's plant represents a new concept in the manufacturing of customised procedure trays in Australia. (19 May)

The Health & Aged Care Minister, Rob Knowles, has opened Pharmacy Week by launching a program for the return and disposal of unwanted or out-of-date medicines. The program is called OPAL RUM (Overseas Pharmaceutical Aid for Life Return of Unwanted Medicines). (17 May)

Victorian women are the least likely in Australia to know about the B-group vitamin, folate, and its link to preventing spinal cord defects such as spina bifida in babies. Taking 0.4 to 0.5mg of folate each day can eliminate the risk of these defects. (4 May)

The Victorian Government will spend $1 million on special hospital facilities for sufferers of cystic fibrosis: the most common life-threatening disease affecting Australian children. (2 May)

The Victorian Government has opened a $2-million palliative care unit in Ballarat. The new 10-bed Gandarra palliative care unit represents a significant step in the $34-million redevelopment of Queen Elizabeth Centre of Ballarat Health Services. (30 April)

The Victorian Government has made available a kit for carers of people with acquired brain injuries or neurological disorders: the Carer Resource Kit. (29 April)

The Victorian Government will spend $15.4 million over the next two years to significantly upgrade the Wangaratta Base Hospital, including the reconfiguration of wards into one new building and major renovations to the theatre suite, day surgery, outpatients and other support services. (28 April)

Ramsay Health Care Ltd is the preferred bidder for Casey's first public hospital. The new Berwick Community Hospital is to be built on the corner of Clyde Rd and Princes Freeway and will open in late 2000. (27 April)

Ninety thousand Victorians can learn for free how to keep people alive in the vital first four minutes of a heart attack through a $4.5 million cardiopulmonary resuscitation campaign "Learn CPR: The Key to Survival" training initiative. (16 April)

The rate of Victoria's baby deaths has fallen to the lowest ever recorded. The rate of 6.9 per 1,000 births is contained in the annual report for 1997 of the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity. (8 April )

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service tissue-typing laboratory at Southbank and the North-Western Health tissue-typing laboratory at the Royal Melbourne Hospital are to merge to create the Victorian Immunogenetics and Transplantation Service. (6 April)

Victoria Police has completed its investigation into the matters relating to the contracting out of the Metropolitan Ambulance Service’s communications system and have advised the Department of Human Services that, following detailed consideration by the Director of Public Prosecutions, no criminal charges will be laid. (1 April)

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Graham Rouch, is advising young adults to be immunised against measles following an outbreak of the disease in the Western suburbs of Melbourne. All but three of the 25 confirmed cases were between the ages of 18–26. (16 Mar)

The Inaugural International Cannabis and Psychosis Conference, organised by the Victorian Government under the Turning the Tide Strategy, was opened on 16 February. (16 Feb)

Funding has been allocated to the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre as part of a $2 million program to reduce nurses' back injuries. (10 Feb)

Victoria's new rural ambulance service, Rural Ambulance Victoria, will have its headquarters in Ballarat.  Its new CEO will be Mr Doug Kimberley.  (10 Feb)

The State Government is to provide $60,000 under the Turning the Tide drug strategy to establish an Internet site to deliver health and legal information about drugs, relationships, and physical and mental health, and a further $49,100 to produce updated directories of information for drugs users. ( 10 Feb, 9 Feb)

1998

The Premier, Mr Kennett has opened state-of-the-art operating theatres at the Sandringham Hospital for which the Victorian Government had provided nearly $3 million. (17 Dec)

The new Knox Hospital will have an expanded range of services more quickly than originally planned, following a decision that the two developmental stages of the hospital will be rolled into one. (9 Dec)

Victoria's first Bachelor Degree course in acupuncture will begin in February next year at the Melbourne College of Natural Medicine.

The Premier, Mr Kennett, has urged Victorians to write to Independent Senator Brian Harradine demanding his support for the Federal Government's proposed 30% rebate on private health insurance.

The Minister for Health announced on 17 November a  new directory of health and family services, to be distributed to every Victorian household. A Guide to Your Local Health Services contains advice on all available Government health services and how to access them.

Residents of Bendigo will be able to access radiotherapy services under a combined initiative of the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments.

Health Minister Rob Knowles has expressed regret at the decision by Southern Health Care Network CEO, Dr Just Stoelwinder, not to renew his contract with the network.

Page last changed Friday, 04-Jun-2004 05:02:46 EDT