Thursday, 24 March 2022

Ambulance services

Mr T BULL (Gippsland East) (14:31): My question is again to the Minister for Health. Last August Stephen of Traralgon phoned 000 at the direction of his GP because he was experiencing excruciating abdominal pain. 000 dispatched paramedics; however, while halfway through the call they were told to leave him for another call. In significant distress Stephen’s wife drove him to the hospital, where he spent several days. Why are seriously ill Victorians like Stephen being told to drive themselves to hospital if the system is up to standard, as this government claims it is?

Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality) (14:32): I thank the member for Gippsland East for his question. I think the honourable member said that that was in August of last year, if my memory serves me correctly—thank you. I am more than happy to follow up the particular circumstances of that Traralgon case, should the honourable member be in a position to provide them for me. But in regard to the general proposition that the honourable member raises, what we do know is that during the course of a global pandemic in which our ambulance services and indeed the emergency services part of ESTA have been under pressure like never before in their recorded history—indeed to the point where in the last quarter of 2021, the year the honourable member’s question relates to, the ambulance service saw a record level of demand for its services when it came to code 1, sirens and lights, call-outs—at the same time that same service was delivering, through infection prevention and control measures, supports for its staff that necessarily placed both the staff and their patients at particular risk, which was having to be managed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Then indeed, again, we have also seen during that period of time, over the course of the pandemic, significant impacts on the workforce itself. In terms of August 2021, that would not have been to the same extent as it is with the omicron variant. We have seen since then not just record investment in the 2020–21 year of over 700 extra paramedics being delivered into that system in the course of that financial year; we have also seen how these services relate across the demand period and how the call allocation dispatch system from ESTA is managed in that relative priority sense. So it is a bit hard to give the honourable member a specific answer to his—

Mr T Bull: On a point of order, Speaker, I appreciate the minister’s answer, and without repeating the question, the premise of the question was: how can the government claim that the system is up to standard if people are having to drive themselves to hospital? I would encourage you to bring him back to answering that element of the question.

The SPEAKER: Order! The substance of the question was a broad one—why are seriously ill Victorians being treated in such a way—and the minister is being relevant to that question.

Mr FOLEY: Thank you, Speaker. In regard to the particular circumstances in Traralgon in August 2021 and the relative decisions as to what were the clinical priorities for available assets in a global pandemic at that time, I would have to take that element on notice. But in regard to the general proposition, what our paramedics know, what our emergency services know, what our emergency departments know, is that this is a government that can be trusted to deliver on the investment and the support that they need, and that Victorians need, to recover from this global pandemic and continue to deliver world-class services.

Mr T BULL (Gippsland East) (14:36): Five weeks after Stephen was released from hospital he experienced serious chest pains. After being told by government to only call 000 in case of an emergency, as the minister has said, Stephen hesitated. Thankfully his wife did not hesitate, instead driving him to hospital. She discovered that he was having a life-threatening heart attack. When it comes to the failures of 000 and the ambulance dispatch, why does the government continue to blame Victorians rather than fixing the problems it created?

Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Equality) (14:37): Can I thank the member for Gippsland East for his question. Again we see these theatrical, Trumpian overstatements from those opposite designed to scare people, designed to strike fear rather than support. Can I yet again caution those opposite not to deride our emergency services, not to attack and drive fear into the people of Victoria, when those same people of Victoria can see through that. They know full well that life is about choices and that there are some who will support—

Ms Ryan: On a point of order, Speaker, I think the minister is now attacking the opposition. The point of this question was the fact that this man did not call the ambulance the second time because he had been informed under the government’s policies that he should not. That is the point of the question. No-one is seeking at all to undermine the fantastic work of our paramedics, and I would ask you to instruct the minister to stop attacking the opposition and making false claims.

The SPEAKER: Order! I do not uphold the point of order. The substance of the question at the end of the example given was a broad one, and the minister is being relevant.

Mr FOLEY: I would caution those opposite to of course raise significant issues, as is their job, but to do it in a way that is constructive and to do it in a way that is not misleading and does not strike unnecessary fear deliberately into the Victorian community. (Time expired)