Ambulance services
Mr McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (09:40): I wish to raise a concern on behalf of Heather Mann of Wangaratta, who recently was declined an ambulance when she dialled 000. I met with Heather last week and she explained to me that she was told by a 000 operator that no-one from Ambulance Victoria would answer the call and she had better find her way to hospital at 2 in the morning. Luckily a friend came to her rescue. The ambulance operator did call her back to say there was not an ambulance coming and that she should catch a taxi to hospital. Now, what sort of Third World environment do we live in where ambulance services can (a) refuse to answer a call or (b) call back and refuse to pick up a patient? Ms Mann is not a frequent caller to the 000 hotline; she just needed help. The Minister for Ambulance Services needs to be up-front and tell Victorians on what grounds an ambulance can be refused to a caller. Is it just Wangaratta? Is it the time of day? Give us the truth and tell us what a caller should do if they are refused an ambulance. Who decides if an ESTA operator tells a patient they will not be coming and says, ‘Take a taxi if you need to get to Northeast Health Wangaratta’? Heather said to me, and I quote, ‘Somebody will die if this continues’, and sadly she is correct. Other MPs have similar stories to tell, but I do wonder why the Labor MPs are too scared to speak out. People are dying in Victoria waiting for an ambulance that is either late or refuses to turn up. The Andrews government must stop blaming COVID for everything and fix this mess. Stop the spin. We want to know: if you call an ambulance, will an ambulance come?