Gippsland East Nationals’ MP, Tim Bull, has called on the State Government to make the changes to restore funding in local hospitals and free up ambulance resources.
“Apart from raising these matters in Parliament, of recent times I have met with both local hospital representatives and the Ambulance Union in relation to the current challenges being experienced by the health system both locally and state-wide.
“Our medical staff and paramedics are doing an incredible job under great pressure. They live locally, are part of our community and are going above and beyond at present - they really are, and deserve our thanks rather than angst.
“Last week I met with the Ambulance Union and the clear message was they need improvements in several areas, which includes (but is not limited to) a concerted effort to reduce ramping at hospitals so they can move patients into the hospitals and get ambulances back on the road.
“They also want better monitoring of ambulance despatch so they are not dealing with non-urgent cases like being called to a toothache. This impacts their ability to be available for the more serious cases for which they are required. It also causes overtime / overworking issues. Our ambos care about our community and are happy to do the overtime on cases they are genuinely needed for. These are very reasonable and common-sense requests,” he said.
“Many of our hospitals (like Bairnsdale) also need bigger emergency departments (EDs) and have them staffed. The answer to this is not asking our hospitals to work with reduced budgets as many have been asked to do state-wide, while at the same time being asked not to impact frontline services.
“As many across Victoria are saying, this is an impossibility as they function as one organisation where staff at every level rely on each other. The answer is to ask hospitals what support they need to cater for increasing demand, whether that be infrastructure or staffing.
“I spoke about these matters in Parliament last sitting week and will continue to do so.
“Locally, Bairnsdale hospital is considering options to increase capacity of its ED in the short term. It will require some funding and I’ll continue to work with them in achieving this, noting the issues are far bigger than just Bairnsdale.
“Hopefully we will soon have announced changes where our hard-working paramedics are allowed to focus on emergency cases and our hospitals supported to have what they require,” he said.
Friday, 23 August 2024
