The Nationals Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe, has this week in Parliament, raised her concerns and called out the State Government over the ambulance crisis and wait times.
Ms O’Keeffe said “there has been constant incidents raised regarding ambulance delays. The past 12 months, 20 Victorians lives have been lost. The Health Minister, Mary-Anne Thomas during Question Time in Parliament said in relation to the ambulance delays stated “that we would do better’” but did not put forward any solutions.
“This is in no way a reflection of our hard-working paramedics. Instead, this is a lack of resources and a system that is clearly broken and not working, and a government that cannot fix the health crisis.”
Speaking to Ambulance Victoria the past week, Ms O’Keeffe says “that they are doing the best they can, with the resources they have available to them.”
“Nathalia residents have also contacted me raising some alarming incidents in their community.
“Patricia who is an 83-year-old woman and severe diabetic, was visited by the district nurse who assessed that she needed an ambulance. A neighbour who sat with Patricia which was a 3 hour wait for the ambulance felt extremely stressed and concerned as Patricia was so unwell. He said having to wait 3 hours for an ambulance is so alarming.
“This past week they have also had another incident occur, where a 65-year-old gentleman collapsed and had to wait 55 minutes for an ambulance with a suspected heart attack, and another gentleman who had a fall breaking ribs waiting in pain for over an hour. This is simply not good enough.
“People who are in need of an ambulance should have the confidence that an ambulance will arrive in a timely manner, and not have their lives put at risk. The over worked paramedics need better resources from this government so that they can help their patients in need during an emergency or health crisis.
“The people of Nathalia feel disconnected from medical health support and are also struggling to get a doctor’s appointment and there is also no doctor on call after 5.00pm.
“I am calling on the Health Minister to take immediate action to address the health crisis, and to support our local communities to ensure our local ambulance services are able to meet their performance targets and keep our communities safe.
“Most importantly, patients should have the access to the healthcare that they need before more lives are lost,” Ms O’Keeffe said.