Campaspe ambulance responses blow out dangerously: Walsh

Data for the January-March 2021 quarter has revealed of the 595 Code 1 emergency calls, patients waited an average time of 14.19 minutes.

Mr Walsh said the figures were worse than the same time the previous year, where 66.1 per cent of 318 Code 1 calls were responded to within 15 minutes, with an average time of 13.34 minutes.

The Ambulance Service’s target specifies 85 per cent of Code 1 incidents should be responded to within 15 minutes in places with populations greater than 7500.

‘‘Incredibly, in some cases, critically ill Victorians were having to choose between waiting as much as half an hour for an ambulance or catching a taxi to the emergency department,” Mr Walsh said.

‘‘Communities across my electorate of Murray Plains continue to face terrible delays for ambulances.

‘‘Data for the January-March 2021 quarter has revealed Campaspe residents classified as Code 2 have seen their response times also worsen — from 30.42 to 30.55 — with callouts up by almost 30 for the matching periods.’’

Mr Walsh said in regional Victoria, an ambulance was more likely to fail to meet its Code 1 response time than to fulfil it.

‘‘Last month, one regional couple covered in the data were left waiting 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive and transport them to hospital; a trip which they could have made themselves in 20 minutes,’’ he said.

‘‘Thankfully, they were okay; however, they are rightly concerned other people may not be so lucky.’’

Ambulance Victoria chief executive Associate Professor Tony Walker said the Victorian and Australian healthcare systems were experiencing enormous pressure.

‘‘Current levels of patient demand are at their highest in 15 years,’’ he said.

‘‘We welcome the Victorian Government’s announcement . . . of a $759 million package to address the challenging demand and COVID-recovery pressures across the public health system including in rural and regional Victoria.

‘‘The package includes significant funding to support Ambulance Victoria to provide the right care at the right time and ensure that emergency ambulances are available for those needing time-critical care.

‘‘But we can always do better, and Ambulance Victoria continues to invest in initiatives to provide regional and rural Victorians with access to the best of care.’’