Thousands more Victorians will get the surgery they need sooner, with a suite of new operating theatres now open at St Vincent’s Hospital on the Park delivered as part of the Andrews Labor Government’s COVID Catch Up Plan.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas today visited Victoria’s latest Rapid Access Hub, which includes five new operating theatres that can deliver an additional 10,000 procedures annually.

The Labor Government has invested $9 million to establish the new Hub, which will provide a range of same-day surgeries and scopes.

In addition to St Vincent’s, there are three Rapid Access Hubs already up and running at three other hospitals, and another four more on track to open this year.

A key initiative of the Labor Government’s $1.5 billion COVID Catch Up Plan,Rapid Access Hubs allow hospitals to streamline their services, freeing up operating theatres, ward capacity and staff – delivering more surgery now and into the future.

Rapid Access Hubs exclusively perform specific surgeries like hernia repairs, cataract surgeries and joint replacements – allowing surgical theatres, equipment and staffing to be streamlined to increase the number of procedures that can be performed each day.

It comes as the latest performance data shows Victoria’s surgery wait list continuing to decrease – surgery was delivered to 50,678 patients in the last quarter alone and the waiting list is now down to 72,024 patients, cut by almost 20 per cent since the COVID Catch Up Plan launched last year.

The Labor Government is delivering a range of initiatives to reform how we deliver surgery, including ongoing partnerships with private hospitals to boost capacity and the establishment of 23 Patient Support Units to help patients access surgery sooner.

Quote attributable to Premier Daniel Andrews

“Our new Rapid Access Hubs, like the one at St Vincent’s Hospital, are allowing more patients to get the treatment they need sooner and delivering on our long-term plans to deliver more surgery than ever before.”

“With Rapid Access Hubs, new public surgical centres, upgraded surgical equipment and more training for staff, this isn’t about a blitz – we’re setting up the system to deliver more surgery now and into the future.”