Rowville electorate
Mr WELLS (Rowville) (12:57): (6334) My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, when will the government fund enough nursing staff at Dandenong Hospital to open up hospital beds and stop ambulance delays? A Rowville constituent who was sent to Dandenong Hospital by ambulance with a lung infection recently waited for 23 hours in the emergency department before a bed could be found. Despite his lung condition requiring oxygen, he was left on a ward from 4.00 am to 8.00 pm with two patients who were close contacts of a confirmed COVID case. When both patients tested positive he was deemed a close contact, and nurses tried to move him into a room with another patient waiting for a PCR result, risking further cross-infection. He is one of thousands of people whose lives have been put at risk by the Victorian health crisis. Frustrated nurses say a 26-bed ward sits empty because there are not enough staff. Up to 10 ambulances were ramped outside the hospital recently during another code red. Health experts are warning patients may die.