Hospital ambulance diversions increase

By Melissa Meehan
THERE has been a four-fold rise in the Maroondah Hospital diverting ambulances to cope with its emergency cases in the last quarter of 2007 as against the same period the previous year.
Evelyn MP Christine Fyffe said recent data obtained from Eastern Health, citing Freedom of Information, revealed that between October and December 2007, Maroondah Hospital was on ambulance bypass on 39 occasions as against eight in the same period the previous year.
“That our ambulances are on bypass is a sign that our health system is under stress. With bypass numbers from Maroondah Hospital increasing rather than decreasing during 2007, we are looking at a reduced ability to cope with emergency patients. We are going backwards,” Mrs Fyffe said.
“When ambulances are forced to divert emergency patients to other hospitals, they are being forced to taking a gamble. There is no guarantee that someone having a heart attack will survive a lengthy trip while ambulance officers race to find a hospital that has a bed available. This is a frightening, but very real scenario.”
She said the figures showed the strain placed on patients and their families, but ambulance officers are being placed under “relentless pressure.”
The Victorian Government defended ambulance bypasses on the grounds they have spent record funding on hospitals and an additional $6 million on emergency departments.
“Current Government funding levels and the management of our hospitals have clearly not met the challenges of an expanding and ageing population,” Mrs Fyffe said.
“We will know when we are spending enough on health and managing our hospitals better when our ambulances are on zero bypasses.”