Hospital to open women’s clinic

A NEW State Government-funded Women’s Health Clinic is expected to open at Grampians Health’s Ballarat Base Hospital in June.

The clinic’s aim is to provide free care and to remove barriers women can experience when seeking female-specific specialist services and treatment.

The centre’s health workers will include gynaecologists, urologists, nurses, and allied health staff.

It’s expected that conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome will be treated there, and that women facing perimenopause and menopause could also access support.

“We’re going to have multiple clinicians in the same site, so allowing women to access care for their symptoms under the one umbrella,” said Grampians Health women’s services clinical director, Dr Natasha Frawley.

“People shouldn’t have to take sick leave every month or avoid activities due to their menstrual symptoms, so getting that awareness that it’s not something to put up with and that there are treatments available [is important].”

Member for Eureka, Michaela Settle said women in the Ballarat region deserve “world-class care.”

“Ballarat Base Hospital provides exceptional care to our community and the addition of this new clinic bolsters their ability,” she said.

Member for Ripon, Martha Haylett said it’s essential that local women can access specialist services and treatment close to home, without having to travel to Melbourne.

“This clinic will provide women in Ballarat and surrounding communities with the specialist care they need without the need for a GP referral,” she said.

Ballarat’s Women’s Health Clinic is one of five initial centres being set up across Victoria, with the others at Northern Hospital, Royal Women’s Hospital, Frankston Hospital and Barwon Health Geelong.

Fifteen more clinics of this kind are expected to be established over the next four years, including Aboriginal-led and mobile clinics.

The program is being funded by the State’s $153 million women’s health package.

A recent report, Listening to Women’s Voices, found that 40 per cent of women in Victoria have a chronic pain condition.

As part of the Inquiry into Women’s Pain, a survey seeking women’s experiences with pain is open at bit.ly/3THtGCZ.

“It’s your experience that will mean we can provide better services,” Ms Settle said.