Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland has called for urgent action on ambulance services in regional Victoria, after being inundated with distressing reports of delayed responses and unavailable callouts.
The comments come after whistleblowers told Ms Cleeland that a broken garage door at the Benalla ambulance station is impacting response time targets.
Ambulance Victoria’s benchmark is to respond to 85 per cent of Code 1 emergencies within 15 minutes; the latest figures show Benalla reaching just 58.2 per cent, Mitchell 51.6 per cent and Strathbogie only 32.7 per cent.
In Kilmore, Brian Mounsey recently called an ambulance for his 92-year-old mother-in-law, Norma Walker, after she fell and suffered a head injury. There was no ambulance available, and Ambulance Victoria urged Mr Mounsey to drive Ms Walker to a metro hospital.
“These are people in my community who called for an ambulance because they genuinely needed one. They should not be left wondering whether an ambulance is going to turn up,” Ms Cleeland said.
“These are not the only stories I am hearing. Lorraine Jones, Pamela Ellis and many other regional Victorians have had similar experiences.”
In Benalla, the ambulance station’s garage doors are broken, meaning paramedics have to manually open and close them every shift.
“Benalla is a town of around 14,000 people. Our paramedics should not have to manually open and close broken garage doors every time they start and finish a shift. They should be able to focus on their job, which is looking after patients,” Ms Cleeland said.
Ms Cleeland said the problems went well beyond a broken garage door, and reflected a system under pressure from top to bottom.
“Our paramedics are doing their absolute best, but they cannot fix a system that is under pressure from top to bottom. People are waiting too long for ambulances, our paramedics are under enormous pressure and our stations are being left to deteriorate.
“My request to visit the Benalla ambulance station was rejected in one of the most shocking politicisations of our regional health services by this Labor government. While I am being kept out, local paramedics are getting on with the job and manually opening broken doors every shift.”
Ms Cleeland said regional communities deserved an ambulance service that worked when they needed it.
“People in regional Victoria are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for the same basic level of service that Victorians in metropolitan areas expect,” she said.
“When someone calls Triple Zero in an emergency, they should be able to trust that help is coming. That is what ‘every minute counts’ was supposed to mean.
“I will keep fighting for the investment our regional ambulance services need, for our paramedics and for the people in our communities who rely on them.”
