Health outcomes for Victorian patients continue to deteriorate as the Allan Labor Government presses ahead with its plan to cut, close and amalgamate health services across Victoria.
by the Victorian Agency for Health Information (VAHI) has confirmed across the June 2024 quarter:
- The average overdue wait time for category 2 patients has increased to 207.48 days more than the 90-day clinically recommended time.
- The average overdue wait time for category 3 patients has increased to 344.76 days more than the 12-month clinically recommended time.
- The number of category 3 patients overdue for treatment has increased to 2078.
- Almost one in five (18.8 per cent) patients waiting for an urgent first appointment with a specialist are waiting longer than the target time of 30 days.
- Only 61.38 per cent of patients are being transferred from an ambulance to an emergency department within 40 minutes (dramatically below the Government’s 90 per cent target).
- The wait time for denture care has increased to 11.6 months.
- The percentage of code 1 ambulances arriving within the target time of 15 minutes has decreased to 64.2 per cent (a decrease of 3.5 per cent since the previous quarter).
- The average code 1 response time has increased to 15:37 (an increase of 48 seconds since the previous quarter).
- The average code 2 response time has increased to 46:43 (an increase of 4:19 since the previous quarter).
The falling performance of Victoria’s health system comes as Ambulance Victoria continues industrial action and remains in crisis, and the Allan Labor Government proceeds with its secret plan to rip hundreds of millions of dollars from health service budgets, forcing hospitals to cut services and jobs.
Furthermore, the increase in overdue wait times for category 2 and 3 patients comes as Labor abandoned its promise to deliver 240,000 elective surgeries a year in the recent State Budget, which revealed Labor’s net debt would reach a record $187.8 billion by 2027-28.
Shadow Minister for Health, Georgie Crozier, said: “From elective surgery wait times to emergency care – the performance of Victoria’s health system continues to deteriorate under the Allan Labor Government.
“With Labor’s debt continuing to climb, vital funds are being cut from our health system which will ultimately mean worse outcomes for Victorian patients.
“These figures are nothing for the Government to crow about. The Government’s secret plans to cut, close and amalgamate health services will have a worsening impact on patient outcomes and service delivery across Victoria.
“Labor cannot manage money, cannot manage our health system and Victorians are paying the price.”
