By Cam Lucadou-Wells and Matthew Sims
Ambulance response times in Greater Dandenong have improved, but are still well short of performance targets, according to latest official stats.
In January 1 to March 31 this year, 73.4 per cent of Code 1 responses were within 15 minutes.
This was up from 68.1 per cent in the previous quarter, but still well shy of the 90 per cent metro target.
Average response times improved from just over 15 minutes to 13-and-a-half minutes.
In neighbouring Casey, an even lower 63.2 per cent of Code 1 responses were within 15 minutes.
The average response time was 15 minutes and 14 seconds.
From January to March, paramedics across Victoria responded to 65.2 per cent of code one cases within the state-wide average target of 15 minutes – a five per cent rise.
The state-wide average response time to code one emergencies was 15 minutes and 20 seconds, which was an improvement of one minute and 24 seconds.
Ambulance Services Minister Gabrielle Williams said: “Our paramedics work incredibly hard, and we’ll continue to back them with more ambulances, more staff, more training and more equipment so they can keep doing what they do best – saving Victorian lives.”
Liberal ambulance services spokesperson Georgie Crozier said Victorians were suffering with 34.8 per cent of code one responses still not attended to within 15 minutes.
“The Andrews Government went to the last election promising to fix the crisis that has plagued our ambulance system,” she said.
“Yet six months later, response targets are still not being met and it’s clear nothing has changed.”
Ambulance Victoria metropolitan regional director Ian Hunt said ambulance performance improved thanks to reduced demand and fewer staff furloughed due to Covid.
“This helped speed up the handover of patients at hospitals and allowed to us get back on the road quicker to attend more life-threating emergencies,” he said.
“We know demand is already rising again and will continue to do so as we head towards winter.
“We thank the community for helping us relieve pressure on our paramedics and the health system by saving Triple Zero (000) for emergencies.”
Ambulance Victoria clinical operations acting executive director Michael Georgiou said from January to March, 37,825 people who did not need an emergency ambulance were instead connected by paramedics and nurses in the Secondary Triage team to more appropriate care.
“That results in 500 or more cases every day being safely matched to services that better suit their needs while also avoiding emergency dispatch,” he said.
Mr Georgiou said Ambulance Victoria continued to work closely with stakeholders across the entire health system to ensure patients received the most appropriate response for their needs and improve ambulance availability across the state.
“We’ve recruited more than 1,300 paramedics over the past two years, tripled the size of our Secondary Triage team and have referred almost 32,000 cases to the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) since October 2021 to help avoid unnecessary trips to our hospitals,” he said.
To view the most recent Ambulance Victoria performance data, visit ambulance.vic.gov.au/about-us/our-performance
