Monday, 1 May, 2017
The Andrews Labor Government has repaired the damage inflicted on our ambulance service by the former Liberal Government, with state-wide ambulance response times restored to what they were before the Liberals went to war with our paramedics.

The latest ambulance and hospital performance data show ambulance response times are the best in seven years, with 80 per cent of Code One emergency calls responded to within the target of 15 minutes – the first time it has reached that mark since the former Labor Government was in power in 2010.

During the height of the previous Liberal Government’s ambulance crisis in 2012/13, just 73 per cent of Code One ambulance response times met the 15 minute benchmark, meaning too many Victorians in life-threatening emergencies waited too long for an ambulance.

Over the past 12 months, thanks to the Labor Government’s record investment in, and reform of, our ambulance service, response times have improved from 75.6 per cent of Code One calls meeting the 15 minute benchmark, to 80 per cent.

In Latrobe, we are seeing significant improvement, with 74.1 per cent of ambulances now arriving within 15 minutes for Code One emergencies, up from 63.1 per cent this time last year.

This means the average time for an ambulance to reach the scene of a Code One emergency in Latrobe over the same period has improved from 14:36 minutes to 12:40.

The Victorian Budget 2017/18 includes an additional $26.5 million to continue to improve response times and rebuild our ambulance service.

The funding in the Budget will build on our $500 million plan to improve ambulance response times – the biggest ever investment in ambulance services – which is employing 450 more paramedics, buying new vehicles and building new ambulance stations across the state.

Already, as a result of this investment, an additional 127 full-time equivalent, highly-skilled paramedics are now trained up and on the road, ready to respond to life-threatening emergencies and save lives.

As part of the initiative, the Latrobe Shire will receive an extra peak period unit, servicing the areas of Traralgon and Flynn.

And we are seeing improvements across our health system, with less patients waiting for surgery and the March quarter delivering the best ever emergency department performance since the ‘four hour target’ was introduced.

The latest data shows 74.4 per cent of patients were admitted or treated and sent home within four hours, a huge improvement from the record low of 61.7 per cent in 2011 when the Liberals were slashing health funding.

For the Latrobe Regional Hospital, we are seeing positive results.

The hospital:

• Admitted 8686 patients in the 3 months to the end of March – up from 8382 admissions in the same period a year earlier.

• Treated 81% of Category 2 patients within 10 minutes of arrival at the ED in the 3 months to the end of March – up from 74% in the previous quarter, and beating the State-wide target of 80%.

• Treated an extra 36 patients from the elective surgery waiting list in the March quarter, compared with the waiting list admissions in the same period a year earlier.

• Provided treatment to 96% of Category 2 elective surgery patients within the benchmark 90 days in the March quarter – above the State-wide target of 80%.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Jill Hennessy

“We said we would end the ambulance crisis and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

“It’s simple. Instead of going to war with our paramedics and slashing funding, we’re investing in more paramedics, more ambulances and more branches.”

Quotes attributable to Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing

“Our ongoing work to recruit, train and support Gippsland’s paramedics has resulted in ambulance response times continuing to improve in the Latrobe Valley. Patients and their families now have more confidence that in an emergency they’ll get the life-saving care they need, when they need it.”

“We’re investing in better ambulance and MICA services across the Valley, which alongside additional hospital funding will enable more surgeries to be done, and more patients to be admitted than ever before as our population grows.”