Funding for ‘crisis’ cure
THE state government has announced a $759m funding boost in its upcoming budget for Victoria’s stretched health system.
New Ambulance Victoria performance data shows only 75.1 per cent of code 1 cases had an ambulance arrive within the 15-minute response time target in the March quarter — the worst result in six years.
Presentations at Geelong hospital’s emergency department increased from 19,259 in the December quarter to 19,895 in the March quarter, Victorian Agency for Health Information figures show.
The 90th percentile wait time — the amount of time in which 90 per cent of all presenting patients were seen by a nurse or doctor — increased from 116 to 146 minutes.
Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said that from all indicators the ambulance service and emergency departments were being crushed. “We are in crisis and on the verge of disaster if we can’t turn the demand around,” Mr Hill said.
Barwon Health clinical director for medicine, specialty medicine and emergency Associate Professor Andrew Hughes said across Victoria there was increased demand for emergency treatment, due to a number of complex, interrelated factors.
He said the health service was constantly looking at ways to improve access and flow through the hospital.
Health Minister Martin Foley said last year, while the necessary COVID restrictions were in place, many people deferred their normal checkups and care routines, which meant there was now a large number of Victorians presenting to hospitals with more complex or critical conditions.
Mr Foley said workforce fatigue from the pandemic, staff having to don personal protective equipment and take extra COVID-safe precautions, and more people presenting to emergency departments also meant Victoria’s usual health performance measures were impacted and may take some time to recover.
In the budget, to be delivered on May 20, the state government will invest an extra $266m in Ambulance Victoria to support it with things such as additional triage nurses, an expansion to secondary triage services and non-emergency patient transfers.
It will also help deliver new paramedics and support staff.
Another $204.3m investment will bolster Ambulance Victoria’s resources and deliver ongoing operational improvements.
The government will invest $89m to boost capacity, drive improvements and support flow through busy emergency departments.
Mr Foley said another $200m would commission the opening of hospital facilities, including supporting the operation of previously announced beds as they opened and any additional staffing required, be they nurses, allied health professionals or doctors.