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Gippsland Emergency Department struggle from under-resourcing and need urgent invention from Allan Labor government

Danny O'Brien, Nationals Member for Gippsland South, highlights urgent intervention needed from the Allan Labor government as Gippsland's EDs struggle to meet performance targets due to under-resourcing, impacting patient care.

By news@gippsland - 7th March 2024 - Back to News

The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O'Brien says immediate intervention is needed from the Allan Labor government as latest figures show that emergency departments (EDs) right across Gippsland are failing to meet key performance targets. Mr O'Brien said the 2022-2023 Annual Reports from Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH), Central Gippsland Health (CGH) and Bass Coast Health (BCH) all clearly demonstrated that their emergency departments are under-resourced and in desperate need of support.

Danny O'Brien noted delays for ambulance-presented patients: 70% at CGH seen within 40 minutes, with lower rates at BCH (59%) and LRH (42%)

ED timeliness disparity

Mr O'Brien said, "Only 59 percent of patients who presented to LRH ED were seen within the clinically recommended timeframe while CGH performed slightly better at 74 percent and BCH managed 78 percent."

"Local ED nurses and doctors do an outstanding job under pressure EDs and their ability to respond to patients' needs can quite literally be life or death. So, it was extremely alarming to read that more than 250 who presented to LRH last year waited for more than 24 hours in the ED," he said.

Emergency department delays

Mr O'Brien said patients presenting to EDs via ambulance were also left waiting with only 70 percent finding their way into the CGH ED within 40 minutes. Alarmingly that figure is as low as 59 percent at BCH and a startling 42 percent for LRH. "It is no wonder ambulance response times have not improved across Gippsland South with these figures clearly demonstrating that ambulances are getting stuck at our local EDs."

"Indeed, the latest reports from Ambulance Victoria show little-to-no improvement in response times across both Shires over the last ten years, with code 1 still averaging over 18-minute response time in both the Wellington and South Gippsland Shires," he continued.

Critical mental health

Mr O'Brien said the clear and crucial need for the $10 million emergency department mental health hub at LRH was also evident in the performance figures which showed 72 percent of mental health patients presenting to LRH ED waiting more than four hours for treatment. This figure was also well below the targeted KPI of 19 percent at BCH and CGH where 59 percent of mental health patients also waited longer than four hours at their respective EDs.

"It is clear that our local emergency departments are in desperate need of help to keep up with growing demand as Victorians put off crucial medical appointments due to the rising cost of living. The Labor government must take immediate action to properly resource and staff our emergency departments and scrap its unfair Health Tax that is driving up GP costs," Mr O'Brien concluded.

Pictures from The Nationals for Regional Victoria YouTube channel.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com