More paramedics, more ambulances and more support staff for Ambulance Victoria are to be delivered as part of the Government’s 2021-22 Budget next week (20 May).
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services, Martin Foley said the $759 million allocation would also support the opening of new beds in health services and improve flow in busy emergency departments.
“[Last year] many people deferred their normal check-ups and care routines, which means there is now a large number of Victorians presenting to our hospitals with more complex or critical conditions,” Mr Foley said.
“For some, particularly worried families with unwell children, this means they are then presenting straight to our emergency departments,” he said.
“This is becoming more of a concern, particularly as flu season begins.”
Mr Foley said the pandemic also changed the way Victorians accessed routine care, with more than 36,000 calls to ‘000’ last quarter from people who didn’t need an emergency ambulance and were instead connected to more appropriate primary care services.
The Minister said that between July-September 2020 and January-March 2021, the volume of emergency department presentations increased by 30 per cent.
“Workforce fatigue from the global pandemic, cases being more complex and critical, staff having to don PPE and take extra COVIDSafe precautions with patients, and more people presenting to emergency departments also means Victoria’s usual health performance measures have been impacted and may take some time to recover,” he said.
Mr Foley said an additional $266 million was allocated to Ambulance Victoria to help speed up the recovery and address changing demand.
He said the funding would be spent on additional triage nurses; an expansion to secondary triage services; non-emergency patient transfers; new paramedics; and additional support staff.
He said another $204.3 million would bolster Ambulance Victoria’s resources through programs like Telehealth, and would deliver ongoing operational improvements across the State.
