Nationals Member for Ovens Valley Tim McCurdy spoke in Parliament expressing his outrage after hearing various regional patients are being tipped out into the cold due to Northeast Health Wangaratta’s overloaded capacity demands which the Victorian Government has still failed to resolve.
In Parliament Tim McCurdy said, “I wish to raise three more concerns regarding the Northeast Health Wangaratta that have been brought to my attention recently.
“The first concern involves a Tungamah resident who after a recent bee sting (he is allergic to bees) was rushed to hospital only to be released at 10:30pm the same night after being told there was no room for him to stay the night.
“He was forced to take a taxi ride home that cost him $155 for the trip.
“My second concern involves a Mulwala resident who was also released at night from Northeast Health Wangaratta and was made to wait outside in her nightie in freezing conditions for nearly an hour as her daughter came from Mulwala to pick her up.
“And my last concern was another Tungamah resident who was released from Northeast Health Wangaratta at 1:30am and was forced to hitchhike home. He walked for 5 kilometres in near-freezing conditions before he was offered a ride.”
Mr McCurdy continued, “Again, I am not critical of the hardworking staff in in our hospitals, but surely the Andrews Government who throw good money after bad projects in Melbourne, could at least provide warm shelters for those who have been forced to leave the Wangaratta Hospital after hours.
“The winter weather is hard on even the fittest bodies within our community, but those who have just existed hospital are very, very vulnerable, and this is absolutely outrageous that people are treated this way.”
He continued, “If the Andrews Government is going to avoid resolving the health crisis and helping health care workers in our regions, the least it can do it take positive steps to ensure our regional patients are treated fairly.
“It’s time the Andrews Government show some respect to our people who rely on fair treatment from this government.”