The Impact of our Metropolitan Designation on the Mornington Peninsula
Committee for Frankston & Mornington Peninsula
An independent advocacy group working for better long term outcomes for Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula.
This week we are exploring the impact of our metropolitan designation on Mornington Peninsula's health services.?
Mornington Peninsula shares similar employment levels to regional Victoria in government-led industries like health care and social assistance making up 14% of our workforce. The Mornington Peninsula is grouped in the Southeast Metropolitan region under the state government's health service partnerships, established in July 2021. Under the system, three partnerships cover metropolitan Melbourne, with five across rural and regional Victoria.?
The only public hospital situated within the Mornington Peninsula is Rosebud Hospital, with approximately 70 beds. However, the most frequently attended public hospital by Peninsula residents is Frankston Hospital outside of our municipality. Although Frankston Hospital has a 454-bed capacity, the hospital has a large population catchment of approximately 300,000, increasing to 400,000 during the Peninsula's peak tourism season.?
Issues
Although our health services sector is part of metropolitan Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula does not have a fit for purpose health system to service the region. Our single 70-bed public hospital cannot provide sufficient public health resources to Mornington Peninsula, particularly in a post-COVID environment.?
Our research indicates that this is due to significant underdevelopment and funding competition with other metropolitan health services.?
Our analysis shows that the proposed health infrastructure expenditure in regional Victoria is more than three times higher than in metropolitan Melbourne on a per capita basis. As highlighted in the infrastructure section of our report, the planned infrastructure expenditure for health and human services includes:
The following examples highlight funding differentials for opportunities that seek to improve health service capacity and service efficiency to deliver contemporary models of care in the health industry:
In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state government included the Mornington Peninsula within the metropolitan Melbourne boundary to enforce health restrictions. As a result, our residents and businesses faced significantly more stringent regulations and movement restrictions than Geelong residents and businesses as part of regional Victoria. Despite the municipality having a similar population density to Geelong and lower case numbers, the metropolitan COVID-19 restrictions persisted in Mornington Peninsula.
Impacts
The Mornington Peninsula's metropolitan designation reduces services and infrastructure funding opportunities for its health organisations, likely resulting in increased health risks with lower health outcomes.?
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Health organisations have also expressed challenges competing with larger metropolitan operators for funding. Health operators on the Peninsula identified challenges in accessing metropolitan funding programs. For example, Mornington Peninsula health organisations highlighted the difficulties in competing for funding against larger metropolitan operators, who are typically well resourced and experienced in grant application processes.
The COVID-19 restrictions imposed on metropolitan Melbourne had a negative social impact due to the increased isolation of residents. Given the older age demographic on the Peninsula, this has likely taken a considerable toll on our local population.
Summary
The Mornington Peninsula's metropolitan designation reduces funding opportunities for its health organisations compared to a regional designation. As a result, it is likely to contribute to substandard health outcomes for the local community due to lower levels of service and infrastructure.?
Our research did not determine whether a regional designation is justified due to the difficulty in benchmarking Mornington Peninsula's health services against regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne. Therefore, a regional designation may not automatically result in an uplift in health infrastructure expenditure.?
Nevertheless, the research highlights the potential health infrastructure benefits of being part of regional Victoria.?
Therefore, we believe a regional designation could improve health providers' services and infrastructure funding opportunities on the Peninsula and yield positive social and economic benefits.
What health services issues do you, your community, business or customers face on the Peninsula?
How can we help improve health services on the Peninsula??
This research was conducted by Urban Enterprise as commissioned by the Committee for Mornington Peninsula in partnership with Australian Unity.
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