Premier Daniel Andrews faces serious questions over the death of a 14-year-old girl.
Lydia Anseline suffered an asthma attack, she tragically died whilst waiting 30-minutes for the ambulance to arrive. 15 similar deaths have also been reported in recent months.
During question time Andrews was questioned over his role in the state health crisis which led to the deaths, being asked if he would finally take responsibility for the failings.
Victorian Ambulance announced code orange on May 10th, having up to 70 patients waiting and 39 ambulances ramped outside Melbourne hospitals, Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said he believed the number was far higher than 39, stating one factor affecting the system is the increased reliance on Triple-0 and emergency departments and the delay appointment and treatment times, contributing to demand.
Stating the crisis began at the start of the pandemic, with the promise of more funds, nurses, and paramedics there are other issues to address to fix the system.
Danny Hill stated he believes more funds and staff need to be directed correctly, having on-call nurses and paramedics available for the public to call instead of calling triple-0 This would alleviate the issue to some extent as there is no alternative in the community.
Following the pandemic, with no alternative facilities set up to support age-care, patients that test positive have been sent to the hospital so as not to infect other at-risk residents, many have had no symptoms, not needing medical assistance, only care whilst they remain infected. Placing them in hospitals has reduced available beds for the sick, age care is a large component of the work of a paramedic.
Many questions were raised and as yet not answered, there are serious staff shortages caused by staff being stood down for declining the vaccination, leaving due to being overwhelmed with the system, suffering stress, and not being able to do their jobs correctly or safely.
An increase in cardiac events is also putting strain on the system. To date, neither state nor the federal government seems to have put forward a plan with any clear directive to deal with a health care emergency across multiple states.
