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Baby boom renews calls for more hospital beds
28 October 2008
A 30-year high in Victorian birth rates demonstrates the need for better government planning for health and hospital services, according to AMA Victoria.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released today revealed Victoria has recorded its highest total fertility rate since 1978 — 1.87 babies per woman. There were 70,313 births in Victoria in 2007, an increase of more than 5000 on the 2006 figures.
Commenting on the figures, AMA Victoria President Dr Doug Travis said, “We need a plan to meet the health care needs of our growing population.
“Capacity across the health and hospital system has not kept up with demand. We have a brand new Royal Women’s Hospital which is already bursting at the seams. We are building a new Children’s Hospital which will also not be big enough.
“New mothers are already being denied access to the new Royal Women’s Hospital, and need to rely on suburban hospitals which are already stretched.
“Without a long term plan, Victorians’ access to public health services will continue to decline,” Dr Travis said.
“The large increase in births means we will have a large increase in the number of children needing health and hospital care over the next few years. Doctors have put their concerns about inadequate child health services planning to the Health Minister and have not received any satisfactory answers.
“We need more hospital capacity — more beds, more nurses and more doctors — to ensure we can look after the health of Victorian children,” Dr Travis added.
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