Victorian hospitals have experienced unprecedented demand with 443,084 patients presenting at emergency departments across Victoria over the summer months the latest health performance data shows.

This is a 24 per cent increase in the last six years, with more than a third of these patients needing to be admitted to hospital – the highest number ever.

Last November’s unprecedented thunderstorm asthma event pushed hospital emergency departments to the limit, but this latest data confirms our doctors, nurses and paramedics rose to the challenge.

The number of hospital emergency arrivals at Geelong and metropolitan Melbourne hospitals spiked at 9909 across 21 and 22 November with the thunderstorm asthma event.

Ambulance Victoria analysis indicates that its December quarter response times are slightly above the previous three months, but without the surge in callouts for the thunderstorm asthma would have remained steady.

Hospital emergency department attendances also climbed as a result of the respiratory illness surge, but on most measures were an improvement on the previous three months.

The Andrews Labor Government’s record investment in ambulances and our health system is paying dividends, with elective surgery waiting times and ambulance response times an improvement compared to a year earlier.

Locally, Dandenong Hospital is performing well in a range of key areas. It:

• Admitted 18,335 patients in the 3 months to the end of December – up from 17,305 admissions in the same period a year earlier.
• Saw 18,073 patients who presented to the emergency department in the 3 months to the end of December – up from 17,247 presentations in the same quarter in 2015.
• Received 5409 ambulance arrivals at the busy ED in the 3 months to the end of December – up from 5001 arrivals a year earlier.
• Treated half of the hospital’s Category 1 elective surgery patients within 7 days – well under the 30-day benchmark.

Ambulance Victoria data confirms people in the City of Greater Dandenong can have confidence that in an emergency, they will get the care they need, quickly.

The average time for an ambulance to reach the scene of a Code 1 accident or emergency in the City of Greater Dandenong has held steady, at 11:29 minutes in the December – the same as three months earlier.

Our $500 million plan to improve response times – the biggest ever investment in ambulance services – will employ 450 more paramedics, buy new vehicles and build new ambulance stations across the state.