Wednesday, 11 May 2022

Albury Wodonga Health

Mr TILLEY (Benambra) (19:14): (6352) I wish to raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is for the minister to provide an immediate solution to the crisis—the capacity crisis, that is—with beds and emergency presentations at Albury Wodonga Health. The number of people stuck in the emergency department (ED) longer than they should be is nine times more than what it was 12 months ago. Between January and March, 28 patients overstayed the 24-hour standard, up from three at the same time in the previous year, 2021. The budget papers show that one in three ambulance patients gets out of the ambulance and into emergency inside 40 minutes. However, recently Albury Wodonga Health were minus 52 beds—that is 52 more patients that needed beds that were presentations.

Albury Wodonga Health have something like about 230 beds. When you look at it, most regional hospitals have somewhere between 700 and 900 beds. We have got a catchment of 300 000 people, and we desperately need the capacity and more beds in Albury-Wodonga. Now, the theatre nurses also at this time were thrown into the wards. Day procedure rooms were being used as hospital wards, and ambulances and their paramedics were sitting in the emergency driveway for hours as desperate staff tried to find beds for patients who had to be admitted.

I have a couple of case histories. At the other end of the scale the waiting hours are the same. Brad George was taken to the ED by his mother, Glenys. He had complete heart failure and other medical conditions. On arrival he was checked in and told to wait in the waiting room. The room was full and people were sitting on the floor. Brad had to lay down as he could not sit or stand. Glenys approached a nurse, who handed her a blanket and said there was a park bench outside the emergency department—I have the photo if you want me to table that one. Brad lay there for almost an hour before he was seen by a doctor. He was finally admitted to a bed, where he stayed for the next 10 days. There are a number of case studies and a number of histories. Tallangatta’s Garry Johnson also took matters into his own hands and in desperation drove his wife to Melbourne, 309 kilometres away. In fact if you add the extra 32 kilometres from Tallangatta, it was 340-something kilometres to take his wife to hospital.

There are more stories, but we have a time limit. We need a new hospital. Please, Minister and Premier, in your hearts and minds you know this is no ambit claim; it is an urgent need. But even had a new hospital been included in your budget, it still would not be built for years. We need immediate solutions, and I know there are modular units. We know they are here; we know they are in the state. They can be delivered at a quick pace and could be put in place in the short term. If you will not do it, well, move over and we will bloody do it in November this year.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I remind members not to use unparliamentary language.