Wednesday, 8 June 2022

Western Metropolitan Region health services

Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (18:09): (1974) My adjournment matter is directed to the Honourable Martin Foley MP, Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services and Minister for Equality in the other place. Currently Victoria is facing an acute healthcare crisis. The Victorian emergency services system once again failed due to increasing demand and a malfunctioning dispatch system. As a result, Ambulance Victoria issued a code red on 27 May 2022. Though the crisis was addressed within an hour, this is still a tremendous catastrophe for the government. Code red alerts from Ambulance Victoria have become a common occurrence. When it is a matter of life and death, the element of trust plays an important role. Here the trust factor stands missing, as people have lost a great deal of confidence in ambulances. According to Victorian Health Services Performance, one-third of urgent code 1 ambulance patients had to wait longer than the target time in the first quarter of this year; therefore this lack of stability in the system is costing people their lives.

The issue is exacerbated in the Western Metropolitan Region, since the healthcare infrastructure in the region is lacking. This system is meant to respond to emergencies, so it must be subjected to rigorous testing. While there is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused enduring effects to the healthcare system, the government must do better. During the whole COVID-19 pandemic the paramedics have done an excellent job, and they continue to do so. Paramedics and our healthcare staff should be free from such stress and strain and deserve a lot better. In Wyndham there was a 30.8 per cent increase in the code 1 case load from the same time last year. Cases in Wyndham make up 3.52 per cent of the statewide code 1 demand, the fifth-busiest LGA in Victoria. It is time to rethink the healthcare system, and it is important to provide the support that the community in Western Metropolitan Region deserves. The action I seek from the minister is to update me on the government’s efforts to better the healthcare systems, which continue to be under huge pressure in Western Metropolitan Region.