New northern hospital
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:50): My constituency question is for the Minister for Health and relates to a new northern hospital. The Northern Hospital has only 400 beds. It has the busiest emergency department in the state, treating approximately 100 000 patients each year. The Northern Health catchment includes three of the state’s six largest growth areas—Hume, Whittlesea…
Cannabis law reform
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:04): My question is for the minister representing the Minister for Health and relates to the parliamentary inquiry into the use of cannabis in Victoria. It was my referral and an inquiry that I indeed chaired. The report tabled on 5 August 2021 made 21 findings and 17 recommendations and…
Robot-assisted surgery
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:50): (1969) My constituency question is for the Minister for Health and relates to robot-assisted surgery in public hospitals in the north of the electorate. Surgical cancer margin rates are consistently better where a robot is used. This has resulted in a progressively greater discrepancy between the public and private…
Family violence victims
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:19): My question is for the Attorney-General. A recent Fitzroy Legal Service and Latrobe University research report documented how women experiencing domestic and family violence are policed and criminalised. Amongst its various findings, the report highlighted police misidentification of victim-survivors as predominant aggressors as a problematic issue in the criminal…
Naloxone
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:43): My question is for the Minister for Health. My constituent is a member of the Bars of the North, a collective of nightspot operators in Melbourne’s inner north. With the dangerous seizure of a huge quantity of fentanyl at our borders recently, Bars of the North have recommended that their…
Sentencing reform
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:33): My question is for the Attorney-General and relates to sentencing. Victorian women prisoners are growing at the fastest rate in the Western world, with Aboriginal women being the most incarcerated group on the planet by population. As we heard in the justice inquiry and from organisations like the Health…