In the last quarter (July 1- September 30), only 21.8 per cent of Code 1 emergencies were responded to within the recommended 15 minutes.
Despite the deeply concerning figure, it was a 1.2 per cent improvement from the previous quarter with paramedics attending 16 more emergency incidents than the last quarter (220 in total).
The results were deeply disappointing with Member for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell saying the state governments near half billion-dollar investment surge in Ambulance Victoria and emergency despatch services “is failing communities in almost every Northern Victorian local government area”.
Response time for Code 1 ambulance callouts in Indigo averaged 24 minutes and 58 seconds, just below Loddon, Strathbogie and Towong LGA’s who all recorded average response times above 25 minutes.
Code Two (acute but non-time critical cases) response times in Indigo Shire averaged at 49 minutes and 59 seconds across 105 cases.
“Compared with the June quarter, much the same data is showing up in every respect,” Ms Maxwell said.
“It isn’t safe. Ambulance Victoria’s emergency response times in Indigo communities remain the worst in the state.
“The improvements have been only marginal in Indigo… country people are only too aware of the reality and tyranny of distance.
“But the hundreds of millions of dollars pumped into Ambulance Victoria, recruitment and more emergency despatchers in the past six months is not changing our communities’ expectations and experience for the better.
“In August I encouraged the government to work harder and smarter to fix worsening ambulance emergency response times across Northern Victoria.
“But no-one in regional and rural Victoria is seeing the radical shift that would actually put more qualified paramedics and ambulance emergency vehicles on the ground where we live.
“We all want to live in fair, just, safe communities.”
Indigo Shire Mayor Bernard Gaffney, who has advocated strongly for the need for extra resourcing in the north east for many years, said there should “hopefully” be an improvement in ambulance response times in Indigo Shire in 2023.
“The response times are still very concerning,” he said.
“Recently, paramedics have been working out of Chiltern and Beechworth.
“Paramedics have moved into Indigo North Health in Chiltern as well. There is also every possibility of an increase in paramedic accommodation in Beechworth. These changes should improve times across the shire in 2023.”
Ambulance Victoria Hume Regional Director Narelle Capp said demand for ambulance services remained at record levels for the first quarter of 2022/23 due to the continued impacts of COVID-19 and the flu.
“July to September was our busiest first quarter on record, and the second busiest quarter ever,” Ms Capp said.
“Together with the previous quarter, this was by far the busiest and most challenging winter ever. Our paramedics and first responders worked tirelessly to keep delivering world class care.
“During the quarter, an average of 132 staff were furloughed everyday across the state due to COVID-19.”
Ms Capp said Ambulance Victoria recruited 700 paramedics in 2021 – its single largest annual recruitment ever to help meet record demand.
“We’ve since continued to respond to unprecedented demand,” Ms Capp said.
“We’re working hard to relieve pressure across the health system with more paramedics on the road, more resources at 14 hospitals state-wide to help offload patients faster and our MATS crews providing high quality care to less-urgent cases.
“Our record recruiting continues in 2022, with 567 new recruits already joining our ranks so far this year, which includes 70 more paramedics across the Hume region.
“Meanwhile, the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) continues to help us avoid unnecessary trips to our busy hospitals and treat thousands of patients safely in their own homes.”
