Wednesday, 19 March 2025

Health system

Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (16:31): I rise today to grieve not just for the state of our healthcare system but for the very real and tragic experiences that many Victorians are living through due to this government’s failures. This government has spent years pushing forward the narrative that everything is fine, that the system is functioning well, that any issues we see are simply growing pains of an improving system. Nothing could be further from the truth. We talk about statistics, we talk about delays and we talk about the failures –

Belinda Wilson: On a point of order, Speaker, the member seems to be reading from her notes.

The SPEAKER: Is the member for Euroa reading from notes?

Annabelle CLEELAND: I am referring to notes.

The SPEAKER: The member for Euroa is referring to notes.

Annabelle CLEELAND: We talk about statistics, we talk about delays and we talk about the failures of a broken healthcare system, but nothing can bring home the sheer horror of it all like a personal experience. I want you to imagine that you need to call for an ambulance for someone that you love. Imagine calling for an ambulance that does not arrive or takes several minutes or several hours to get to you. Imagine holding that person in your arms while you wait, like so many Victorians have to do on a daily basis – wait. We lived this recently, and I do not wish this upon anyone.

My beautiful, courageous Frozen-loving four-year-old daughter had a respiratory episode on Boxing Day. As a parent there is no worse feeling than seeing your child struggle to breathe. The sound of her wheezing was terrifying, and in that moment all I could think about was how fast we could get her the care she desperately needed. We did what any parent would do, and we rushed her to the nearest regional hospital hoping for competent and swift care. At the hospital she was diagnosed with asthma, and after 15 minutes were told to go home. That is all the time it took for them to send us on our way with a diagnosis and no treatment, leaving us to go home trying to manage something we were told we could handle on our own. But deep down I felt uneasy. Something was not right, and as every parent knows, when you feel that sense of unease, you cannot ignore it. My husband and I called the virtual ED for a second opinion. The doctor on the other end of the phone immediately recognised that her condition was rapidly deteriorating and called for an ambulance. As we were still on the phone my daughter was struggling more and more to breathe. The doctor was clear: she needed adrenaline within 20 minutes. The doctor said that she needed help as soon as possible, and an ambulance was the best option.

Then came the waiting. Thirty minutes passed – 30 of the longest, most terrifying minutes of our lives. Every second felt like an eternity, and I have to say never have I hated this government more than in those terrifying 30 minutes. I hated the Allan Labor government’s failure to provide adequate health care and the cost that Victorians pay for its negligence. I called the ambulance, and the call taker was blunt, ‘We cannot tell you how long it will be, but if she stops breathing, please call again.’ Can you imagine that? You can speak now. Can you imagine that? Holding your child in your arms and knowing that help could be hours away. The unthinkable thoughts come into your mind at that time when you are left waiting. You are left hoping, and let me tell you, everyone becomes religious in that moment and starts praying. We waited and my strong little girl waited, and 2 hours passed before the ambulance arrived. Two hours! Two hours where my daughter was struggling to breathe. We were discouraged from driving ourselves. We were told, ‘Do not drive to the hospital.’ So we waited 2 agonising hours like too many Victorians, and I am standing here today to tell you that I hope no-one in this chamber ever has to experience what my family and my little daughter went through. I hope none of you have to wait for an ambulance in the middle of a crisis, like too many Victorians right now. I hope you never have to hold your child in your arms, watching them gasp for air and waiting for an ambulance to come. I hope you never have to hear the words, ‘If she stops breathing, please call back.’ But this is the reality of Victoria right now. You want to talk about grieving – this is grieving.

The SPEAKER: Order! I do not want to interrupt the member for Euroa, but I would ask you not to use the word ‘you’. It is a reflection on the Chair.

Annabelle CLEELAND: To the members on the other side: this is grieving. Too many families and too many children and too many parents are waiting for help that should be there, waiting for the care they are entitled to, and they are being told to wait even longer. This government has failed to prioritise the most basic need of our citizens – their health. The system is broken, and we have all experienced it firsthand.

I want to take a moment to reflect on the many headlines we have seen over the past year, the same headlines that continue to haunt us and the same stories of everyday Victorians battling for decent basic health care right now in Victoria. We read about the ambulances delayed and hospitals overstretched and vital services being stripped away. Let us not forget that these are not just statistics, these are stories. These are your loved ones, your family, your neighbours – these are Victorians. They are people’s lives; they are the lives of everyday Victorians who are being left to suffer because of this government’s inaction and neglect and utter incompetence.

Ambulances are a prime example. Over the past two years we have seen the stories about our ambulance service in crisis. Today, again, we are confronted with the devastating reality that our ambulance fleet is stretched too thin. The headlines tell the story, and you are failing to listen in this government – ambulances ‘delayed’, ‘sitting idle’ and ‘unavailable to respond to urgent calls’. The situation is so dire, and this is not a minor inconvenience, this is a matter of life and death. On Saturday night one-third of the metro ambulance fleet was out of action. One-third! This is what you should be grieving. And we are told time and time again –

The SPEAKER: Member for Euroa, I ask you not to use the word ‘you’. It is a reflection on the Chair.

Annabelle CLEELAND: The Allan Labor government should be grieving the neglect of their health system. We are told that the funding is being increased, that services are being expanded. How can that be true when so many of our ambulances are unavailable when we need them most? It is health gaslighting on an enormous scale, saying ‘Nothing to see here,’ but you call an ambulance and no-one turns up. Ambulances being forced to operate with single-officer crews means they cannot even transport so many patients. What happens in an emergency when there is no-one to transport the patient? What happens when the system is so understaffed that it cannot even provide the basic level of care that Victorians deserve and expect and need?

In regions like Geelong not a single MICA paramedic was available over the weekend – hundreds of thousands of people, and not one MICA available. An urgent alert was issued to highlight the severity of the situation. It said to only contact 000 in a life-threatening situation as paramedics anticipated ‘exceptionally high demand’. Exceptionally high demand, and yet a third of the metro ambulances are out of action – tell me this is not a health system in crisis. It is a crisis, and the Allan Labor government continues to sit back and hope that things will magically improve. Just what we have seen this week with the gaslighting about the bail laws and the machetes – you have ignored us for 18 months.

Back in 2022 the ambulance union identified shortcomings with the system and called for urgent action to address preventable deaths and harm from 000 delays. Safe staffing levels have been recommended since before COVID, and we still have the same issues happening today. Let us not forget about ambulance ramping, because if anyone has turned up to a hospital, they could see it every single day. It is far from resolved.

We have heard the government’s promises before, but we continue to see delays, particularly in regional Victoria. At Albury Wodonga Health just a few weeks ago there was a tragic incident where a man lost his life after waiting 5 hours in a ramped ambulance – 5 hours. He got to the hospital and could not get the care he needed. That is who I grieve for – him and his family and everyone in that community that has to live without him in their life anymore. That is who we grieve for – Victorians. This is not an isolated incident. This is a new normal for far too many people right across the state and in particular in regional Victoria. This is not an inconvenience – I am sorry – it is life and death, and it is a worthwhile reason to grieve.

You need to hear the numbers – these are not just personal stories – because I think they speak loudly for themselves. Ambulance transfer performance for October–December 2024 is at 65 to 70 per cent, well below the 90 per cent target set by Labor. The government promised that they would fix the issue, but we are seeing the opposite. Victorians are getting used to these broken promises, though. The system is failing, and under the Allan Labor government it is regional Victorian patients who pay the price. It is all Victorian patients that pay the price. Instead of addressing the root cause, instead of properly resourcing our hospitals and ambulance services, the government has chosen to shift the blame. They have blamed hospitals, they have blamed staff, they have blamed anyone and anything except themselves. This government has failed to act, and it is Victorians who suffer and are paying the price with their health.

I want to focus on the state of regional hospitals. In my electorate of Euroa ambulance response times have consistently failed to meet targets set by Ambulance Victoria. The target for code 1 incidents is for 85 per cent of ambulances to turn out within 15 minutes. In Strathbogie shire only 36 per cent of responses meet the target. Benalla, Mitchell shire and Bendigo have similar response targets and are dismally failing. When a life is on the line, 15 minutes is the difference between life and death – between having someone that you love in your life or not. This government continues to fail on this most basic service.

We have the issue of forced hospital amalgamations and the Health Services Plan. The so-called plan is a disaster. It will centralise health care, taking essential services away from our regional hospitals, and force people to travel great distances to access care. This is a blow to regional Victoria and the families who rely on our hospitals for their care. The government is pushing ahead with the plan, not listening – classic. It is ignoring the concerns of all Victorians. I have written to hospital CEOs in my electorate seeking clarity about the future of our health care services, and the response has been silence. The minister has gagged hospital leaders, refusing to allow them to speak out against these changes. It is a direct attack on local health care under the Allan Labor government’s failure of leadership.

I grieve for many local mothers and healthcare professionals who are directly impacted by the loss of maternity services in regional Victoria. We have seen the closure of birthing services at Benalla Health, and Kilmore District Hospital is only operating during business hours. This is not an inconvenience, it is a risk to the health of mothers and babies. It is happening at a time when maternity services are needed now more than ever. And dental care in regional areas, including in my electorate, is so limited. There is a lack of public dentists and many towns are without fluoridated water, which leads to preventable dental outcomes. Children as young as nine are being admitted to hospitals for dental issues.

We are hearing about cuts to medical research. Today 14 research institutes are at risk of closure by 2028–29. It is a direct result of the government’s failure to invest in the critical areas of health and research that can save lives and improve outcomes for Victorians. Today we hear of parents of sick newborns, and women needing cancer treatment have been moved out of the Royal Women’s Hospital’s free family accommodation, with the Allan Labor government selling the site to build new apartments. Six days notice is all that was provided, with no alternative space. Our health system is broken and I grieve for it. The government must be held accountable for its failures. No more delays, no more excuses. It is time for action, because Victorians are sick and tired of grieving for their loved ones.