Julia Banks (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) National Stroke Week:

  (i) ran from 12 to 18 September 2016; and

  (ii) is about raising awareness to prevent stroke in Australia; and

(b) the National Stroke Foundation encourages all Australians to:

  (i) be aware of what stroke is, how to recognise a stroke and what to do;

  (ii) live healthy to reduce the risk of stroke; and

     (iii) get a regular health check;

(2) acknowledges the:

(a) launch by the Minister for Health in June 2015 of the Acute Stroke Clinical Care Standard; and

(b) bi-partisan work done by past governments in the area of stroke; and

(3) notes the requirement for greater awareness and promotion of the prevention of stroke within the Australian community.

Stroke is a time critical emergency, caused when blood supply to the brain is interrupted owing to a blocked or bleeding artery. This prevents the flow of oxygen and vital nutrients, resulting in sudden impairment that can affect a range of functions and, at worst, can lead to significant disability or be fatal. Stroke and its effects place a significant physical, emotional and financial burden on patients, their families, carers and loved ones and, by extension, on the wider community. Community awareness and the promotion of the prevention of stroke are paramount to improving outcomes after stroke. A timely response and rapid access to treatment are crucially important.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in Australia, with over 50,000 strokes each year. In 2015, within my electorate of Chisholm alone, over 900 stroke and transient ischaemic attack, TIA, patients presented to Eastern Health's Box Hill Hospital and over 100 patients received a brain-saving clot-busting medication, equating to more than two calls each day. Mr David Plunkett is the Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Health's Box Hill Hospital, which encapsulates expertise in relation to strokes. The hospital has seen a disturbing surge in the demand for its stroke expertise, with a 48 per cent increase in stroke and TIA presentations and a 102 per cent increase in urgent stroke calls. On a proud note, the Box Hill Hospital received a certificate of achievement for being a top performer in the provision of intravenous thrombolysis for ischaemic stroke and for discharging patients with stroke on anti-hypertensive medication in 2015.

The Turnbull government is funding quality clinical research into stroke, and the update of the clinical guidelines for acute stroke management. This will ensure that medical practitioners across Australia continue to be guided by current best practice evidence when organising the care management and rehabilitation of their stroke patients.

Also in the Chisholm electorate, there is Monash University's Health, Stroke and Ageing Research Group, consisting of four divisions headed by mentoring and research experts. The centre adopts a transdisciplinary approach to research and clinical translation in the fields of cerebrovascular disease, including acute stroke and stroke prevention. It proudly leads international studies and secondary prevention trials in stroke and several projects aimed at improving the quality of stroke care in hospitals, telemedicine provision in regional hospitals, as well as the use of behavioural techniques to improve stroke outcome in patients.

Working closely with the health professionals, patients, carers, government and the community, the National Stroke Foundation is Australia's peak not-for-profit organisation, committed to increasing awareness of risk factors and signs of stroke, reducing the impact of stroke and, indeed, preventing stroke through a number of important programs, some of which would not be possible without the Turnbull government's support. These include: The FAST program, which teaches Australians the most common signs of stroke; the Know Your Numbers! program, which aims to raise awareness of high blood pressure; Australia's Biggest Blood Pressure Check, which enables opportunistic health checks it and community settings; the StrokeConnect program; and a plethora of educational resources. The NSF is also responsible for developing clinical guidelines to assist medical practitioners in providing treatment and rehabilitation to stroke survivors.

National Stroke Week, held in September this year, is the Stroke Foundation's annual awareness campaign and it focuses its efforts to encourage all Australians to understand the impact that time has on stroke. An urgent response to the onset of a stroke not only influences the treatment path for the person having a stroke but also their long-term recovery. The Acute Stroke Clinical Care Standard Initiative, launched by the Turnbull government in June last year, is aimed at improving the early assessment and management of patients with stroke and supporting the delivery of appropriate care to ensure optimal treatment during the acute phase of management regardless of their geographic location. Commonwealth funding has also recently been provided to support education and awareness activity through the Stroke Safe Ambassador program and through the FAST campaign.

The Turnbull government is committed to reducing the impact of stroke on the broader community and looks forward to continuing to work with the National Stroke Foundation to improve support to all Australians and their families affected by stroke.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased today to rise to support the motion moved by the member for Chisholm to raise awareness of the impact of stroke and its impact on our community. It is a reminder of the great work also that is done by lots of people in the community to raise awareness, in particular the Stroke Foundation. National Stroke Week took place between the 12 and 18 September. While it is important not to confine our efforts to raising stroke awareness and prevention to one single week, we are reminded that we have a responsibility to raise awareness amongst our communities throughout the entire year.

Additionally in November this year the Stroke Foundation is also promoting Stride4stroke, a campaign encouraging people to become active. Of course I would like to encourage everyone here and elsewhere to take up the challenge of Stride4stroke.

An honourable member: Good luck.

As co-convener of the Parliamentary Friends of the Heart Foundation and of the Stroke Foundation, I am very much aware of the significance of the stroke as an issue that touches everyone in our community and the significance of raising awareness. In 2013, it was estimated that stroke cost our community $5 billion dollars. The economic costs of stroke not only include the expenses associated with medical treatment but significantly the loss of productivity, wages and the cost to carers, families and friends when helping someone who has suffered from and is recovering from a stroke.

Stroke in our community has a tremendous emotional and social impact. In addition to the profound emotional burden felt after the death of a loved one from stroke, caring for a stroke survivor also involves significant personal expense for the carers. They perform a very important job. They provide assistance and support and may also need in turn to be supported so that they can help their loved ones and nurse them back to physical and intellectual wellness so that they can fully enjoy the rest of their life.

The health of my constituents is an enduring concern to me as the member for Calwell. Currently thousands of my constituents are living as survivors of stroke and every year hundreds more will be added to this growing list. Even more concerning is the number of people living with the risk factors of stroke. Some 15 per cent have high blood pressure, a quarter have high cholesterol levels and nearly half are not getting nearly enough exercise as is required. These numbers are comparable to the state and national averages and are indicative of a more endemic issue that warrants our continued attention and support.

Because strokes can occur quite suddenly and unexpectedly, acting quickly can make a difference to a person's chances of survival and also help in their recovery. Importantly we have to ensure that information is extended to the broader community and particularly to culturally and linguistically diverse communities. This is particularly a concern to me in Calwell where more than half of my constituents speak a language other than English.

It is very important that everyone is aware of the symptoms of stroke, the risk indicators and how to respond in a situation where you are, or someone you know is, suffering a stroke. A lack of English should not be a reason why people are prevented from receiving that critical information. The Stroke Foundation provides information about stroke and how it can be prevented and treated, and it now does so in several different languages, including Arabic, Mandarin, Greek, Italian, Turkish and Vietnamese. Additionally, their program StrokeConnect, which follows up with discharged stroke victims, uses interpreters and caters for cultural sensitivities in these services. The Stroke Foundation is hoping to extend these services and acquire a greater understanding of how linguistically and culturally diverse communities respond to stroke and how best to support them.

Now, for our part, successive Australian governments from both parties have been very interested in the impact of stroke and its dangers for our community. In 1996, the then government made stroke a national health priority, recognising the pervasiveness of the disease as a risk in our country. In 1999, both parties came together to extend the welfare support available to carers, specifically recognising that stroke victims and their carers were at risk of being particularly impacted by gaps in the existing framework. I would like to congratulate all members speaking on this very important issue today.

Damian Drum (Murray, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too would like to take the opportunity to talk to the importance of raising awareness in relation to National Stroke Week, which ran from 12 to 18 September this year. As we all know from those that have taken the opportunity to research this area, it is one of Australia's biggest killers. Obviously, the number of people that suffer either permanent or temporary disability due to stroke is an incredibly significant issue.

One in six people will suffer a stroke at some stage in their lifetime. I lost my dad to a stroke in 1987. Whilst on a golf course, he went down and did not get up. Obviously, it is something that our family has been quite aware of. We like to think that all of the children are very keen to get check-ups with their respective GPs. Also, my mum, who was a nurse, would always say, 'The one thing I don't want as I get older is ever to have a stroke.' Of course, mum had a stroke about six years ago and was in a nursing home for the last three years of her life due to its pretty significant effects. It certainly raises that importance for all of us of making sure we have strong and close relationships with our GPs so that we can have the tests and the range of medicines that are available to prevent clotting, stroke and so forth. There are very strong messages out there.

Some of the statistics in relation to the prevalence of stroke are good signs. Over the last three decades, there has been a significant decrease in the incidence of stroke in the broader population. That is a very positive statistic. These declines have been driven by improvements in the key risk factors such as high blood pressure, the reduction in the smoking rates, as well as the progress in medical treatment, other advanced care and the advancement in the medicines that are available to people who are in that high-risk category.

It is also worth remembering that stroke kills more women than breast cancer does, and kills more men than prostate cancer does. We should not be thinking, 'This is something that only happens to those old folk; it is only something that happens at the end of our lives.' That is just not true. A quick walk around any aged-care facility will generally find somebody in that 50 to 60 age bracket who is sitting there because they have had a stroke and they are significantly impaired. It is very sad state of affairs when those purpose-built facilities are not prevalent enough to cater for people that are suffering from serious disabilities as the consequence of stroke.

I will just take this opportunity again to raise awareness but also to send the message out to the broader community. This is a real opportunity for us to get tested and to have our family history checked because there is evidence that suggests your likelihood of being hit by a stroke does, in fact, have a hereditary chain; therefore those of us who have stroke in our family history need to be very cognisant of that and need to take the necessary opportunities.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare there is currently no comprehensive monitoring of new cases of stroke. Again, that would suggest that there is a real need and real opportunity for an increase in data collection and an increase in the studies that are done into the new causes of stroke. Perhaps that could create an improved picture as to the quality of stroke care that could take place right around Australia. I think that is the message that I would like to push: let us get the data, let us make sure we understand the incidences of stroke and the causes of stroke, and let us make sure we understand as much as we possibly can about this real killer in our society.

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to begin by commending the member for Chisholm for raising the important issue of stroke awareness. Approximately 55,000 Australians are affected by cerebrovascular accidents, commonly known as strokes, each year. One of them is Shane Hopkins, who wrote to me last month. His letter highlights some of the challenges that people living with stroke face but also the possibility of hope for a full recovery. Shane writes:

I suffered a stroke and have been forced to write to you with my left hand. (I am right handed.) I am working on my right side and I know I will recover.

It is safe to say that I do not often get fan mail; it is quite often more hate mail. I was very honoured to receive this, especially from an individual who is living with stroke, as my father did. My father was one of those 55,000 affected by stroke. In his lifetime, he suffered several smaller strokes, eventually leaving him incapacitated and with rapid onset Alzheimer's in his final years. He passed away around 18 months ago.

Of these 55,000 Australians who are affected by stroke, it is estimated that about one-third will recover with little or no visible signs, one-third will survive but will have a permanent disability and one-third will die. Time is a major factor to recovery. If treatment can be initiated within the first three hours, the chances of a full recovery from stroke are greatly enhanced. In my electorate of Cowan, the 2014 records show that there were 2,268 people who suffered a stroke. That number is not likely to have decreased; in fact, it is estimated to rise each year as the population increases. Despite this large number of people in Cowan suffering from stroke, our newest hospital, the Fiona Stanley Hospital, is a considerable distance away and traffic congestion causes additional problems, meaning that delays occur in those critical first few hours after a stroke has occurred.

There is also a lack of services for stroke survivors post an attack. The Northern Suburbs Stroke Support Group is the largest stroke group in Western Australia. It is a voluntary not-for-profit group, and it is not government funded. They rely on their own fund-raising efforts to provide respite breaks for members on an annual basis. I had the pleasure of visiting the group earlier this year and seeing firsthand the wonderful work that they do for strokes victims and their carers with little access to resources or funding. The Northern Suburbs Stroke Support Group's major concern is the lack of facilities in the outer northern suburbs for speech and physiotherapy services for stroke survivors once they have been discharged from hospital.

According to them, stroke is one of the most devastating tragedies that can be inflicted, because, of course, it affects not only the individual but also the entire family. Someone becomes an instant carer with virtually no knowledge of what is going to be demanded of them for many years to come and, without the urgent help and facilities available, the new stroke survivor will often give up the hope to live. There are no facilities in the northern suburbs for speech therapy and no facilities for physiotherapy for stroke survivors. Patients are being discharged from hospital and left to their own devices, and many have been waiting 14 months for access to services.

Of course, as the previous member mentioned, stroke is not only confined to the elderly. I will mention some examples from my electorate. A young 11-year-old girl recently had two strokes in nine days, and one of the youngest stroke survivors, who comes from Girraween, in the southern suburbs of Cowan, was still in her mother's womb when her stroke occurred. Both her grandparents are members of the stroke support group. A 33-year-old male, also from Cowan, suffered what is called the locked-in syndrome stroke, whereby he was completely paralysed and could only blink his eyes. It has taken him five years to recover.

The community awareness of stroke needs to be encouraged. It is essential to be able to identify the signs and symptoms of stroke and the urgency of immediate hospital treatment. The outer suburbs in Cowan urgently require more hospital facilities for stroke patients and access to speech and physiotherapy services. Since we have had closures of rehabilitation hospitals in the area, it has been increasingly difficult for any stroke survivor in the northern suburbs to receive these essential services.

David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this motion moved earlier today by the member for Chisholm in relation to stroke, one of the biggest health issues affecting the Australian community. Strokes are one of the leading causes of death and disability in our community, and, sadly, there would be very few of us who have not been touched by stroke in some way through relatives and friends. Addressing the causes of stroke and doing what we can to minimise the risk of stroke are incredibly important priorities.

Another thing that is very important is recognising the early signs of stroke, because often that identification of a potential stroke prior to its occurrence is literally the difference between life and death. It is critical as a community that we build understanding of how to identify those signs. That underlines the importance of National Stroke Week in getting the community to come together to acknowledge the significance of stroke in our community and to turn its mind to the risk factors relating to stroke. In 2015, there were some 50,000 strokes in Australia, which works out to about one every 10 minutes. This is a disease that will kill more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer. So it is extraordinarily widespread in our community.

In recent years, the FAST test has been developed to help enable loved ones to try to determine whether or not someone may be at risk of suffering a stroke. The FAST test has four key parts. First is face: check the person's face; has their mouth drooped? The second is arms: can they lift both arms? The third is speech: is their speech slurred? Do they understand you? The fourth is time. This is critical. If you see any of the above signs, call 000 straightaway, because the difference between literally a few minutes can be absolutely critical in these circumstances.

We need to continue to make a concerted effort to promote awareness of the prevention of stroke within the Australian community and to heed the National Stroke Foundation's call to live a healthy way to reduce the risk of stroke and to get regular health checks.

The four main risk factors in relation to stroke are: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, physical inactivity and an irregular heartbeat. They are the four main risk factors and a number of those are things that we, in our own lives, can do something about to minimise the risk of stroke.

It is good to see that, in my own electorate of Banks, the two main hospitals that service my region—St George Hospital and Bankstown hospital—both have specialist stroke units, and they have been put in place in recent years. In 2013, Bankstown hospital was accredited as a stroke unit and has a thrombolysis centre that allows patients to access drugs that are designed to declot the bloodstream. So, great work is being done both at St George and at Bankstown hospitals in this most important of areas.

About two per cent of all people at any given time have previously suffered a stroke. If you look at the National Stroke Foundation's statistics on this, it makes for quite sobering reading. Of the 437,000 stroke survivors in Australia in 2014, that represented close to 2,000 per 100,000 population—so, as I say, about two per cent—and, in New South Wales, 146,000 people are living with the consequences of having suffered a stroke. So, it is an extremely important issue. National Stroke Week is something that is very important in our community, and I commend the member for Chisholm for bringing attention to it.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Chisholm for her motion in helping to raise the profile of the National Stroke Foundation and the different ways to prevent stroke. According to a 2014 report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, stroke is the second-leading cause of death and disability in this country; it affects thousands of Australians every year.

This is an issue that is close to my heart as my father, John Gosling, has worked for Guide Dogs in Australia for 46 years, and every day of those 46 years has been working in assisting people who have become sight- and mobility-impaired due to the effects of stroke. Vision assessment post-stroke determines someone's loss of vision, and then Guide Dogs work with those people around their loss of vision to help them gain mobility skills, increased independence and also to reduce the risk of falls and improve the quality of life through that increased mobility. Thirty per cent of people who have a stroke will have a change to their vision functioning, so it has a very definite and real effect on their lives.

There is an enormous cost to stroke in our community in the Northern Territory—in 2012, about $51 million and, nationally in that year, about $5 billion. There is a financial cost, apart from the very human cost, incurred by the estimated 375,000 Australians who have had a stroke at some time in their lives. A third of these people sustain a disability because of that stroke, and often loved ones or colleagues are unable to read the signs when that person is having a stroke. This can lead to increased damage or even death.

That is why it is important for the F.A.S.T. stroke check to continue to be promoted and learned by all Australians. If there is one useful thing that I can do this morning, it is to remind people about what the F.A.S.T. check is. F.A.S.T. is a way to check if someone is suffering from stroke. Firstly, look at their face and check their face—has their mouth drooped; arms—ask them if they can lift both arms; speech—is their speech slurred, and do they understand you; and the T is for time—time is critical. If you see any of these signs, call triple zero straightaway; the person that you are with may be having a stroke.

Stroke changes people's lives, often permanently, and impacts not only the person who has experienced the stroke but also the families.

If you look at the stats regarding stroke, you will understand how the people and services of my electorate of Solomon are disproportionately impacted. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have twice the rate of hospitalisation for stroke and are 1½ times more likely to die from stroke than non-Indigenous Australians. People living in remote and very remote areas have 1½ times the rate of stroke than people living in major cities, and people from the lower socioeconomic group have 1.3 times the rate of stroke than people from the highest socioeconomic group.

The Northern Territory leads the country in many ways—our rich culture; our fishing, cattle and horticultural industries; we are a fantastic tourism destination; we have excellent opportunities for development of the defence industry; we have an amazing heritage and big hearts. But, unfortunately, the Northern Territory also leads in the risk factors that contribute to strokes—smoking, obesity and alcohol consumption. We have many, many people in the Territory who are suffering from the effects of strokes, and I urge Territorians to have a look at their lifestyle in order to reduce the likelihood of stroke. For me, too, this is important; I am doing it more and more. We need to keep up the exercise and to try and cut down or quit smoking and excess drinking, as those factors will increase the likelihood of stroke.

There is enough in the Territory to finish you off—there are crocodiles and there are box jellyfish. We cannot do a lot about some of those things, and we certainly cannot do anything about a category 5 cyclone, but we can improve our health and we can help those around us. We can remember the FAST acronym as a way of helping those who may have had a stroke. We can do all that we can do help prevent stroke, because it is so damaging.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to also support the motion moved by the member for Chisholm. I think this was originally moved to highlight National Stroke Week back in September, but it is timely in any event to talk about the importance of investment in cardiovascular disease, and stroke in particular. Through contributions this morning, we have heard people talk about the need to recognise and respond to the signs of stroke. We know that one in six Australians will have a stroke in their lifetime, with Australians suffering more than 50,000 this year alone, and one Australian will suffer a stroke every 10 minutes. We know that, of course, the time in which you respond after having a stroke is critically important for your rehabilitation and the success of your outcome.

The Stroke Foundation estimates that, in my own electorate of Ballarat, there are almost 3,000 people living with the effects of stroke. Significantly, there is a high number of people with one or more stroke risk factors across my electorate—more than 27,000 have high blood pressure and almost 40,000 have high cholesterol, which are two of the key risk factors for having a stroke.

More than 13 years ago, regional Australia's first dedicated stroke unit officially opened at Ballarat Health Services Base Hospital, and I am proud that my local region has been a leader in this space. We know that having a stroke unit is critical, again, to making sure people are seen quickly, that they are seen by the right specialist quickly and that the right decisions are made. I am very pleased that that is available in my community, but a lot more needs to be done. It is vital that more Australians are aware of what strokes looks like and of how to respond quickly when they occur. That is why, during the election campaign, the Labor side of this House took the decision to commit $16 million to boost stroke awareness and to improve follow-up care for the survivors of stroke—one of Australia's biggest killers and a leading cause of significant disability.

Almost half a million Australians are already living with the effects of stroke, and that is forecast to rise to almost one million by 2050. But it does not have to be this way—access to quick treatment and support services can save lives and absolutely reduce the level of disability. Awareness of the Stroke Foundation's FAST test is critical to improving treatment and reducing the impact of stroke. Thinking fast and acting fast is critical. Early treatment could mean the difference between death or severe disability, and is critical to ensuring a good recovery from stroke. When you speak to stroke survivors, you hear that the No. 1 issue for them is improved care. Leaving hospital after a stroke can be a really frightening experience, especially if a survivor does not have family support. Certainly in rural communities the access to support can also be diminished. Survivors speak of not being able to access the information and services and of being left to fend for themselves unaware of the right places to seek help. Many stroke survivors I have spoken to have attempted to return to work and have found that that it fails pretty quickly as they have not had the support services that they need.

The Stroke Foundation's follow-up and referral service provides vital information for families and carers as they help their loved ones adjust to life after a stroke. This service proactively contacts stroke survivors directly around six weeks after they leave hospital. When people leave hospital they are often lost to the system very quickly as they try to go back and regain their ordinary lives or they have to deal with a disability while trying to access services or their family is trying to access those services for them. So actually having someone proactively connecting them in with services and with other people in the community who have had a stroke makes sure that they actually do get the assistance they need. The service contacting people makes sure that the survivors and their families do get that much needed assistance and access to information quickly after leaving hospital. Whether it is assessing their needs or helping with important community referrals and linking them with other services, this follow-up service can help fight the isolation many stroke survivors feel and helps their recovery.

While we have stroke awareness week once a year, it is really important that people are aware of the symptoms of stroke throughout the entire year. It is important that you do get regular health checks, that you do try and mitigate against the risk factors for stroke but it is equally important that we, as members of parliament and prospective governments, actually invest in this really important area. The whole area of cardiovascular disease is not one that has been significantly funded. We tend to focus a lot on cancers. I would like to see far more awareness of stroke and far more awareness in this parliament of the need for funding.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

According to one fact sheet, each year about 35,000 Australians are admitted to hospital with a stroke. As other speakers have pointed out, it is the second leading cause of death and disability throughout the country. The latest figures I have seen suggest that over 440,000 Australians have had a stroke at some time in their life and about a third of those have been left with a disability. One in six Australians are likely to suffer a stroke at some time during their lifetime. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have twice the rate of hospitalisation from stroke and are 1.6 more times more likely to die from stroke than non-Indigenous Australians. With a similar trend, people living in remote and very remote Australia have 1.4 times the rate of stroke than people living in major cities and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have 1.3 times the rate of stroke than people from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Indeed it seems to be a recurring trend that inequality and poor health go hand in hand.

In 2013, Deloitte Access Economics put the financial cost of stroke to the Australian economy at $5 billion with $3 billion of that being in lost productivity. The more important cost, however, is the impact on the lives of those people affected and on the lives of their family members who often become their carers. We simply cannot put a figure on the value of that. If a person is left with a serious disability because of a stroke it can become an incredible strain on the whole family. Not surprisingly, stroke support groups have emerged across the country to deal with stroke. From my experience with the local stroke support area groups in my area, they do a marvellous job.

By raising community awareness, which Stroke Week aims to do, we can: minimise the effects of stroke if it does occur; help families manage the ongoing care, lifestyle changes and rehabilitation process; and take preventative action to lessen the risk of stroke. Inevitably, however, when a stroke does occur, medical treatment becomes increasingly necessary. That means more GP visits, more pathology tests, more diagnostic imaging, more medication, more hospitalisation, more surgery times and certainly more rehabilitation with several allied health professionals contributing in the recovery process.

We also know that over two-thirds of stroke victims are over 65 years of age and that many of those people are either in an aged care facility or will ultimately end up in one. So the government's freeze on Medicare rebates until 2020, cuts to hospital funding, cuts to pathology and diagnostic imaging bulk-billing incentives and the latest $2 billion cuts in aged-care funding will directly impact on stroke victims and make their difficulties even greater. For Indigenous, remote and very remote Australians, who are already much more likely to suffer a stroke, the government's Medicare cuts will make their disadvantage even greater.

The motion, quite rightly, refers to regular health checks, which, of course, may prevent strokes. However, efforts to reduce strokes by encouraging more visits to general practitioners, who, in turn, will require more frequent pathology or diagnostic imaging tests, will not be effective if, at the same time, all of those costs are going to be pushed up. People will simply not take the preventive measures that they otherwise should, because they may not be able to afford to do so. Going back to my earlier comments that stroke affects more people in low socioeconomic areas, then those are the people that are least likely to go for more regular health checks if the costs have already been pushed up.

Likewise, when a stroke does occur, limiting access to allied health providers such as physiotherapists and speech pathologists by cutting aged-care funding programs will be detrimental to recovery efforts. During my time in this place, there has been a bipartisan approach to reducing the incidence of stroke across Australia, and there has been bipartisan agreement that prevention is the best objective. But we will not be able to prevent stroke if we increase the very costs that we are asking people to incur in order to keep regular checks on their health, which is exactly what this government is doing. My view is that the best thing we can do to prevent stroke is ensure that people can afford to see their doctor in the first place.

Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this motion. As the member for Chisholm notes, National Stoke Week was held in September to promote stroke awareness, the role of the National Stroke Foundation and the need for regular health checks. This issue must be considered a matter of public importance, as one in six Australians will have a stroke in their lifetime, with Australians suffering more than 50,000 new or recurrent strokes this year alone. The sad truth is that this disease will likely impact all of us, either directly or indirectly through someone we love. I recognise that past governments, both Labor and coalition, have given bipartisan support. I commend them for this approach, and it is imperative that this bipartisanship continues. But it is equally essential that we continue investing in diagnosis and treatment. Investment in stroke prevention is not just good policy; it is also the right thing to do. Stroke is one of Australia's leading causes of death and disability, and I am proud that the previous Labor governments developed and funded various preventive programs.

Our knowledge and expertise in this area of health have significantly improved and has allowed organisations such as the National Stroke Foundation to raise important awareness. This work is incredibly important because research overwhelmingly shows the time taken to diagnose and treat a stroke is critical to our survival. Across Australia, our health professionals, paramedics, nurses, specialists and rehabilitation professionals play an integral role in this treatment, and I congratulate them for their dedication and commitment.

I have no doubt about the dedication and commitment of health professionals and, given their commitment, we have an obligation to resource health facilities with the necessary equipment to provide first-class care. Unfortunately though, my electorate has only one MRI machine licensed, which is located in the region's largest public health facility, the Caboolture Hospital. I am sorry, but this is just outrageous. MRI is the most effective piece of equipment we have for diagnosis and management of acute ischaemic stroke. Its precision is superior. Albeit a little more expensive, it works. I do not accept that, in a population of around 170,000, it is okay to have one machine accessible to everyone. Timing is critical in diagnosis, and yet, in my electorate, we have one machine accessible to all.

While I have previously recognised the level of bipartisanship on this issue, I feel compelled to point out the recent evidence provided by the Department of Health in estimates. Their evidence was that the department gave no advice on the two MRI licences that the government committed to marginal Victorian seats—to the Frankston Hospital in Dunkley and the Maroondah Hospital in Deakin. There was no advice whatsoever. So yes, while Labor will always take a bipartisan approach where common ground can be found, I find it morally reprehensible that the government appears to be politicising where MRI licences are allocated. We cannot play politics on this issue, and this government must allocate licences based on scientific evidence and data. They must base licence allocations on need, not on political fortune, so that communities just like mine in Longman have sufficient access to essential medical equipment.

While the state has an obligation to provide these resources, I am incredibly excited about and supportive of our Morayfield Health Hub. From mid-2017, the constituents of Longman will have access to additional but essential services for acute and chronic health conditions. This health facility, including one that will improve early diagnosis and treatment of strokes, is one of the most significant developments in our community. It is going to boost the local economy and create jobs. I am incredibly proud that the Morayfield Health Hub will also include a day-to-day stay unit to accommodate 70 patients per day in a range of programs which includes stroke rehabilitation.

Strokes devastate lives. They cause permanent and serious disability and often impact entire communities. We must continue raising awareness of these issues and we must ensure all Australians, not just those who live in marginal seats, can have access to life-saving equipment. In a choice between life and death, we simply cannot play politics.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.