Health system
Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:09): My question is to the Minister for Health. Reports have emerged this morning of chaos at the Box Hill Hospital due to chronic government underinvestment. An 83-year-old stroke victim was forced to wait 17 hours outside in a tent, despite the minister just previously saying the sickest patients do not wait in any tents, where she was then attended to by paramedics, who would rather be on the road saving lives. Can the minister explain why paramedics are now being forced to fill the role of nurses at the Box Hill Hospital because this government has failed to invest in the nursing staff we need at the time we need it?
Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:11): The question that has been asked just demonstrates that those on the other side have absolutely no understanding of how our contemporary health system operates here in Victoria. There are a number of roles now in place where we see paramedics and nurses working side by side to deliver care, be that through Ambulance Victoria’s triage service, which is delivered by paramedics and by nurses, or be it in the work that happens in an emergency department between the off-load teams and the nurses that are working at the emergency department. Nurses and paramedics work hand in hand to deliver the very best outcomes to all Victorians, and I might say this: under our government an additional 2000 paramedics have been added to our workforce. Indeed last year we recruited 700 and this year already 400 new paramedics. We are making sure that we have got a paramedic workforce that can deliver ambulance responses and 000 responses out on the road, but we also have highly qualified paramedics who are working in triage services and who are working in our leading Victorian virtual emergency department. These are new models of care.
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! The member for South-West Coast is warned.
Ms THOMAS: They are driven by the workforce themselves. They about ensuring that our highly trained workforce can work to the maximum of their ability, expertise and scope. To suggest that our government underfunds hospitals from these on the other side, whose history when they were in government was cut, cut, cut, slashing healthcare funding, going to war on our ambulance paramedics and disrespecting our nurses—only a Labor government will support our healthcare system, stand by our hardworking healthcare workers and ensure that Victorians can get the care that they deserve.
Once again I will make the point: we have been an through an unprecedented pandemic. It has had an extraordinary impact on our healthcare system and our workforce, but what we will not do is we will not attack healthcare workers who have gone above and beyond over the last 2½ years taking on additional shifts, working overtime, doing everything that is needed to give Victorians the best care.
Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:14): With triple handling at Box Hill Hospital meaning the emergency tent at the front of the hospital is predominately staffed by Ambulance Victoria personnel, can the minister advise just how many Ambulance Victoria staff have been taken off AV duties to staff this emergency tent at the front of the hospital?
Ms THOMAS (Macedon—Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (14:14): I thought it was pretty simple: if you have ambulance off-load teams at our hospitals, that enables more paramedics to get back in their trucks, get on the road and respond to 000 emergency calls. This is a role that has been in place now for quite a number of months, and it has been supported by our workforce—indeed led by our workforce. We have acted on the advice of healthcare clinicians and practitioners about the way we can best deliver the healthcare that Victorians need during a pandemic. Those on the other side again have demonstrated they have no understanding of the work of our highly experienced, highly qualified paramedic workforce.