Waitlists up 8,000 in a year. Ambulances missing targets. Emergency patients stranded for 24 hours. Jane Foreman says Victorian families deserve better — and Family First will deliver it.
Victoria's surgery waitlist has ballooned to more than 68,000 — almost 8,000 more than a year ago and 4,000 more than last quarter, the biggest single-quarter jump in 12 months.
Behind that number is a parent waiting nearly a year beyond the recommended time for a hip replacement. A child still on a waitlist for a tonsillectomy. A heart valve patient waiting six months for surgery meant to be done in 90 days. These are real Victorians trapped in a system the Allan government has let fall apart — while it spends billions on a Suburban Rail Loop and lectures families about its "world-class care."
"The Allan government has chosen its priorities. Billions for a rail loop. 68,000 Victorians waiting for surgery. Family First will choose families."
The crisis extends beyond surgery. Just 66 per cent of Code 1 ambulance emergencies are reached within 15 minutes, against an 85 per cent target. Patients stranded in emergency departments for more than 24 hours has skyrocketed over 70 per cent year-on-year. This is the same government that in 2022 committed $5 billion across 26 health pledges — a blitz the Auditor-General later found failed its own targets.
"Every policy decision has a human cost. When you underfund hospitals, that cost lands on a family waiting for surgery their loved one needs. Family First will always count that cost before we act."
Family First's Jane Foreman is calling for real, independently audited surgical waitlist targets, ambulance funding tied to response outcomes, and an end to the waste that drains money from frontline services Victorian families actually need.
"I meet families every week who are doing everything right — and still can't get their mum into surgery or an ambulance in time. That's not their failure. That's a failure of government. And it's exactly why I'm running."
"A world-class health system is not a luxury. It is what every Victorian family deserves. Family First will fix it."
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