The sickest people in the Bendigo region are waiting longer for ambulances to arrive than the same time last year.
Victoria’s under-resourced and under pressure health system is spiralling further into crisis, with the latest response time data from Ambulance Victoria showing longer delays for Code 1 patients to be treated.
In January-March this year, 74.5 per cent of incidents in Greater Bendigo were responded to within 15 minutes – far below the AV target of 90 per cent, and worse than the same time last year.
It’s a similar story across the region, with emergency assistance arriving within the 15 minute target at just 27.3 per cent of incidents in Loddon Shire and 43.9 per cent in Mount Alexander.
Leader of The Nationals Peter Walsh said the slower response times showed the need to properly resource regional emergency services and health care.
“When people are sick and require urgent health care, every second counts,” Mr Walsh said.
“Health professionals are telling us Victorians are now sicker and in need of longer stays in hospital than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But too many people in the Bendigo region are left in pain and at risk of their condition getting worse because the Andrews Labor Government can’t get the basics right.”
But the crisis does not stop with ambulance wait times, once patients arrive at hospital and into the emergency departments, they are waiting for hours to be admitted.
The latest response times are the worst since 2015.
Mr Walsh said worsening ambulance response times were one symptom of the growing health crisis under the Andrews Labor Government.
“Hospital waitlists are skyrocketing with a 30 per cent increase in the number of people waiting for elective surgery in the past 12 months,” Mr Walsh said.
“Meanwhile, vulnerable Victorians seeking help for drug addiction and to get their lives back on track are now waiting longer than 12 months to access treatment.
“Lives are being lost to Labor’s health crisis and the longer Daniel Andrews fails to fix the problems, the sicker people will become.”
**Ambulance Victoria has two official response time targets – to respond to Code 1 incidents within 15 minutes for 85 per cent of incidents statewide and respond to Code 1 incidents within 15 minutes for 90 per cent of incidents in centres with populations greater than 7500.
| Q3 2019/20 (Jan-March) | Q3 2020/21 (Jan-March) | |||
| LGA | Response < = 15 min (%) | Ave Response Time (Minutes) | Response < = 15 min (%) | Ave Response Time (Minutes) |
| Greater Bendigo | 78.8 | 12.34 | 74.5 | 13.19 |
| Loddon | 38.2 | 20.52 | 27.3 | 23.32 |
| Mount Alexander | 49 | 18.20 | 43.9 | 20.19 |
