Thursday, 20 November 2025

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (09:57): I think we were all shocked to read in the Herald Sun this morning the shocking story of Lois Casboult. She is a 91-year-old woman. She called for an ambulance when she needed it. She had fallen, had fractured her pelvis and had bleeding and probably blood on the brain, yet the ambulance was not able to take her. This is a sign of the failings of our health system. The emergency response is now in deep trouble. The hospitals are in deep trouble. When I was health minister, the last figures showed just over 38,000 on the waiting list. There are now more than 57,000 on the Victorian waiting list. The times for emergency response by ambulance have grown extraordinarily long, and this is putting lives at risk. But on this occasion there was an interplay between the ambulance and the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department. We have to be very careful with these virtual emergency departments that they are not a device to stream people away from the care that they need. In this case it certainly appears that way. It appears that Lois did not get the care that she needed, tragically, and there have got to be answers on this. There has got to be proper investigation. I say this points directly to this government’s failure. They cannot manage money. They cannot manage the big health system, and Victorians are at risk. Their lives are at risk and their health is at risk because of Jacinta Allan’s failings.