Tuesday, 2 August 2022

 Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:14): I rise to update the house on how the Andrews Labor government is expanding our world-leading virtual emergency department to residential aged care facilities right across Victoria. This morning it was great to be with my good friend the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers and the secretary of the ambulance union, Danny Hill, to hear firsthand how this initiative is ensuring that older Victorians get the care that they need without needing to go to hospital. In doing so this is helping to take the load off our busy emergency departments and freeing up our hardworking ambos so that they can get right back on the road.

Supported by the extraordinary clinicians, including Dr Loren Sher at Northern Health, this service has already supported more than 28 000 Victorians to access the care they need while helping ease the load on our hospitals as they manage unprecedented demand. And now between 80 and 100 aged care residents per day will be eligible to access this service, which means that they will be able to get the care that they need in their home. This will avoid unnecessary transport to emergency departments, which of course is incredibly upsetting and uncomfortable for our older Victorians. We are focused on treating older Victorians with the care, respect and dignity that they deserve. This pathway is just one of the initiatives that is being delivered under our $162 million emergency response announcement, which the Premier and I made only last month, which is focused on supporting our emergency response through our ambulances and through our emergency departments. Innovations like this come when you listen to healthcare workers, which is what we have done. These are all initiatives that have been driven by our healthcare workers. Only the Andrews Labor government will back them in.