Victorians continue to face longer wait times for vital surgery and emergency treatment as the latest quarterly data from VAHI reveals:
- The number of patients on the waiting list for surgery has surged to over 60,000, up 5 per cent since last quarter
- Increases in the number of patients waiting for vital surgery at key hospitals including:
- The Alfred up 12 per cent
- Northern Health up 30 per cent
- Footscray Hospital up 13 per cent
- The Austin up 9 per cent
- Barwon Health up 6 per cent
- Bendigo Health up 5 per cent
- Box Hill Hospital up 4 per cent
- Casey Hospital up 8 per cent
- Peter MacCallum up 11 per cent
- Royal Children's Hospital up 3 per cent
- St Vincent's Hospital up 9 per cent
- Western Health up 12 per cent
- The average overdue wait time for Category 2 patients is 186.9 days
- The average overdue wait time for Category 3 patients is 325.5 days
- Ambulance response times across the state remain well below target, with only 64.1 per cent of statewide Code 1 responses arriving within 15 minutes, well below the target of 85 per cent.
- Only 67.1 per cent of ambulance patients were transferred to emergency departments within 40-minute target, with worsening figures compared with the previous quarter including:
- Footscray Hospital at just 50 per cent, down from 61 per cent
- Maroondah Hospital 35 per cent, down from 43 per cent
- Sunshine Hospital 50 per cent, down from 61 per cent
- The percentage of patients waiting longer than the recommended time for treatment in public hospital emergency departments is 69.3 per cent
- Only 56.6 per cent of people presenting to the Northern Hospital Emergency Department are seen within the recommended time, worse than 64.9 per cent last quarter and 65.2 per cent a year ago.
Shadow Minister for Health, Georgie Crozier, said: "While Labor has had years to fix these issues, these damning figures clearly show the worsening state of Victoria's health services.
"More than 60,000 Victorians are waiting for surgery, often in pain, with their lives on hold. Ambulance response times continue to blow out and patients are waiting longer in overstretched emergency departments.
"These figures don't lie. They show the true state of Victoria's health system which continues to deteriorate under the Allan Labor Government.
"Labor can't manage money, can't manage health and Victorians are paying the price."
