Victoria’s ambulance response times in the firing line

By Tyler Maher

Feb 19, 2023

Waiting longer: Ambulance response times continue to worsen across Greater Shepparton. Photo by Megan Fisher

Greater Shepparton’s worsening ambulance response times are in the firing line for two of the wider region’s state members of parliament.

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National Member for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe highlighted some of the feedback she was fielding from the community.

“People expect that when they call an ambulance in a life-threatening situation, one will arrive on time,” Ms O’Keeffe said.

“But this simply hasn’t been the case.

“I was recently contacted by a resident who was told that an ambulance would be ‘at least an hour’ despite them being severely ill and unable to move.

“Their family was forced to improvise a stretcher out of the house and drive them to Goulburn Valley Health’s Emergency Department, where they were seen to immediately.”

Greater Shepparton’s Code 1 caseload between October and December last year increased by 5.1 per cent from the same time period in 2021, but the number of those cases responded to within 15 minutes dropped by more than six per cent.

Paramedics attended 66.8 per cent of Code 1 patients in the Greater Shepparton LGA within 15 minutes — compared with 73.2 per cent the same time in 2021. The average response time to Code 1 patients was 16 minutes and 23 seconds.

Between July and September, the average response time to Code 1 cases in Greater Shepparton was 15 minutes and 55 seconds.

Neighbouring Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland is the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health.

“The Premier (Daniel Andrews) came to power in 2014 claiming he’d ‘save the minutes that save lives.’ Sadly, underinvestment and continual failures in the 000 system have left our ambulance system in a shocking position,” Ms Cleeland said.

“In 2014, before this government came to power, ambulances were significantly more likely to arrive on time and on average were more than three minutes quicker.”

The October to December 2022 quarter was the first time on record the state’s ambulance service had responded to more than 100,000 seriously ill people in a three-month period.

During the quarter, an average of 112 staff a day were furloughed across the state due to COVID-19. As a new wave of COVID-19 spread, the number of staff furloughed increased from a low of 31 on October 1 to a peak of 202 on December 20.

“We have the most expensive ambulance service in the nation but the worst outcomes,” Ms Cleeland said.

“To be waiting nearly 17 minutes on average for an ambulance across Greater Shepparton is completely unacceptable.

“People in our region should have the confidence to know that when they call 000, the phone will be picked up and the ambulance will be there on time.”