By XAVIER SMERDON
IF YOU live in the booming outer suburbs and are thinking of having a baby, you stand to wait much longer and pay thousands of dollars more than people living closer to the city, a new report has found.
The report by the Victorian Auditor-General entitled Maternity Services: Capacity, tabled in Parliament last week, found that new and growing suburbs are missing out on maternity services. “Women at audited hospitals in metropolitan growth areas experience poorer access including higher fees and delays in their antenatal appointments,” the
report read.
“Due to demand on birthing facilities and an inability to access labour ward beds, they also risk giving birth in non-admitted settings, such as an emergency department, without a legitimate clinical reason.”
The report also found that while demand is likely to increase at hospitals like Werribee Mercy and Sunshine Hospital, in other areas in the state it is likely to decline.
Greens MP Colleen Hartland said the results of the report were disappointing to all people living in growth suburbs.
“I’m not surprised by this report. People living in the outer suburbs tell me they move there to have a family, but there aren’t enough maternity services,” Ms Hartland said.
“They pay the same taxes as everyone else. They should get the services.
“The Baillieu Government needs to understand that expanding the growth areas means more than just putting houses in a paddock.”
The report recommended that the Department of Health focus more on improving access to maternity services in municipalities like Wyndham, Brimbank, and Maribyrnong.
