Ambulances are responding faster to life threatening medical emergencies in Dandenong despite massive demand from one of Victoria’s worst-ever flu seasons, with the best quarter one response time in eight years across Victoria.

The latest performance data released today shows the Andrews Labor Government’s ambulance reforms and funding boosts are delivering record results for Victorians.

Ambulances across the state were getting to life threatening emergencies 35 seconds faster compared to last year, with 79.5 per cent of Code One callouts arriving within the target 15 minutes despite a horrific flu season.

This means Code One ambulances are now arriving one minute and 34 seconds faster compared to this quarter three years ago, when response times under the Liberals blew out to the worst September quarter on record.

In the Greater Dandenong City Council, response times are improving, with 84.7 per cent of ambulances now arriving within 15 minutes for Code One emergencies, up from 84.2 per cent compared to the same time last year.

That means the average response time for an ambulance to reach the scene of a Code One emergency in the Greater Dandenong City Council has improved from 11:28 minutes to 11:20 minutes.

This year’s flu season put significant pressure on our hospitals, with respiratory presentations to our emergency departments almost 20 per cent higher than for the same time last year.

A record 454,018 patients attended Victorian hospital emergency departments this quarter, putting unprecedented demand on our emergency services with an increase of 32,486 patients or 7.7 per cent compared to last year.

Despite this intense pressure, the data shows our hospitals are working more efficiently, with the most urgent cases being treated sooner.

Last quarter, the highest percentage of patients across all categories received their surgeries within benchmarks for timeliness for a first quarter. This meant median wait times for category three patients reduced by over six weeks since the same time four years ago.

Locally, Dandenong Hospital has:

• Seen 18,005 people in emergency between July and September 2017 compared to 17,285 in the same period in 2016.
• Treated 100 per cent of the 56 category 1 emergency patients immediately on arrival between June and September 2017.
• Received 5,377 ambulance arrivals in the September quarter compared to 5,364 for the same period in 2016.
• Provided operations for 85.2 per cent of all elective surgery patients within the benchmark times in the September quarter compared to 84.4 per cent for same period in 2016.

To give hospitals and bush nursing centres relief from the massive surge in demand, the Labor Government last month announced a special $115 million boost for our hospitals to fight this year’s unprecedented flu season, and ensure more patients can receive the care they need when they need it, for the remainder of the year.

These record results stand in stark contrast to the former Liberal Government – who went to war with our paramedics and slashed $1 billion from our health system, leaving patients waiting too long for life saving care and languishing on waiting lists.