Tuesday, 16 June 2026

 Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (21:38): (2575) This evening my adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health. Victorians want access to the right care right when they need it and as close to home as possible. Our paramedics do an extraordinary job under immense pressure every single day, and anything we can do to support them and improve patient flow across the broader health system is a win. That is exactly why I am proud that Ambulance Victoria has finally and officially joined the Allan Labor government’s virtual hospital pilot. This is a serious, practical initiative that is making it easier and faster for people to get the medical support they need. As part of this rollout, we now have dedicated paramedics embedded directly within the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s digital coordination centre. These paramedics are using real-life data from our emergency departments and ambulances to make faster, better-informed decisions about exactly where to take patients. This means our patients get to the right hospital faster and our hardworking paramedics get back on the roads sooner to respond to the community.

As I said, Royal Melbourne Hospital, in my electorate, is one of the hospitals leading the pilot, and it is focused on ensuring Victorians can receive high-quality care and recover in the comfort of their own homes. By doing this we are actively freeing up crucial hospital beds for the patients who need them the absolute most. Of course there is money behind this to support it. Labor is firmly backing the virtual hospital pilot through a targeted $6.1 million investment, building on our massive $437 million expansion of the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, which is helping more Victorians access critical care faster and closer to home. The contrast could not be clearer. The Allan Labor government is building a more modern, efficient public health system that will always back our health workers. We all know exactly what $40 billion in Liberal cuts will mean: brutal cuts to paramedics, cuts to our hospitals and cuts to the basic care our community relies on. The action I seek is for the minister to provide an update on how this pilot is tracking and how many patients have utilised this program since it began.