Public Hospitals in Victoria (VIC)

Victorian public health service is charged with providing healthcare to all Victorians. This includes managing hospital inpatient and outpatients, emergency services, community and mental health services, aged care services and running health campaigns. The Commonwealth and State Governments of Australia provide funding for Victorian Public Hospitals.

Victorian public hospital treatment is free of charge to all Australians and permanent residents of Australia. Citizens and permanent residents are covered by the medicare system that covers all hospital and General practitioner visits within Australia. Medicare is considered one of the best health care systems in the world and has been in operation since 1984. All working people in Australia contribute to Medicare through taxation paid whilst working and currently there are approximately 21 million Australians on Medicare benefits.

When you are admitted into a Victorian public hospital there are certain things which are expected of you as a patient. Firstly you are required to divulge any medical information which may affect the treatment which is given to you in a Victorian public hospital. You are also required to alert hospital staff that are treating you about any medication which you are on at the time or any recreational drugs which may be in your system. If you are booked in for an appointment and cannot make it for some reason then it is up to you to notify the hospital of your cancellation so that they can book another patient in that time slot. Racism will not be tolerated in any Victorian public hospital so it's important to treat all people including staff with respect.

There are a couple of different ways to be admitted into a Victorian public hospital, this could be by being admitted through the accident emergency department or by being referred by a specialist. If you are referred to a Victorian public hospital by a specialist then they will provide you with a letter which you will be required to produce when booking your appointment. If English is not your first language then it's possible for the hospital to get an interpreter in so that you can understand what treatment is going to be provided and also so you can have input into any possible treatment which the doctor is planning for you. Race, religion, gender and sexual preference cannot be used against you when being treated in a Victorian public hospital.

In recent times the Australian Government has actively sought to get more people to take out private health insurance by giving the incentive of a 30% rebate on fees to any registered Health insurance company. The government has done this because of the record waiting lists in most hospitals for things such as elective surgery. By getting more people to go into private hospitals to get elective surgery done this will ease the pressure on public hospitals throughout Australia.