$1m budget boost for NQ abortion services
A MILLION-DOLLAR funding boost for abortion services at Townsville University Hospital will stop forcing ‘‘vulnerable women’’ to fly south for their procedures, a top surgeon says.
The state government has allocated $1m to support a termination of pregnancy program at the hospital as part of $1.2bn in health funding for Townsville in the budget.
Health Minister Yvette D’ath said the funding became a priority after Townsville abortion clinic Marie Stopes closed last June, leaving local women without the “support they needed”.
“Women living in Townsville and North Queensland deserve access to this support just as much as anyone in South East Queensland,” she said. Director of Urogynaecology Professor Ajay Rane said the funding was wonderful news for vulnerable women who want to make the right choice for themselves.
He said the funding would help them improve on the “patchy” services for the surgical termination of pregnancies between eight and 12 weeks in North Queensland.
“Obviously, by law, women have a right to choose their reproductive outcomes,” he said.
“It’s not an easy thing to go through. Locally it is really hard for a young woman to travel from here to Brisbane.
They’re often scared. They may not have support.”
Minister D’ath also revealed further details for $530m in funds set aside for Townsville University Hospital, which includes a new clinical building, new surgical and rehabilitation beds and dayprocedure spaces.
The hospital’s helicopter landing pad will be relocated to the roof of a new clinical building.
The new beds will be among 143 the government promised to have ready at the hospital by the second half of 2026 in the recent budget.
In addition to the $530m, $11.6m will be set aside for long-stay patient care and $15m to help with waiting lists.
Minister D’ath said $1.05m had been allocated for paediatric surgical services, $1.5m for the paediatric cardiology services and $1.16m to establish rapid access clinics to help reduce wait times in the emergency department.
The Health Minister batted away criticisms the hospital funding was being delivered too late and said the government had spent the past seven years “rebuilding the health workforce”.