By Parker McKenzie
Residents of the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley could face delays to emergency calls during busy periods, with ambulance staff and paramedics furloughed across Melbourne.
After a code red was called by Ambulance Victoria on Tuesday 29 March — with only 1 per cent of paramedics available to respond to emergencies — the Victorian Healthcare Association CEO Tom Symondson said the Victorian health system remains under significant pressure from the pandemic.
“While Covid-19 case numbers and hospitalisations have eased since the peak of the omicron wave, they are creeping up again,” he said.
“Victoria passed 300 hospitalisations today and cases are the highest they’ve been since 1 February. The VHA understands there are currently around 500 paramedics and approximately 2,000 healthcare workers furloughed.”
Mr Symondson said the recent code red and code yellows can be attributed to the ongoing and compounding impacts of the pandemic.
“High demand for emergency care, services catching up with elective surgeries after lockdown, increasing Covid cases, workforce shortages and staff furloughing are all contributing factors,” he said.
“Further support is needed for now and into the future to ensure the sustainability of the sector’s staff .It doesn’t matter how many ambulances, hospital beds and aged care rooms we physically have in Victoria. Without staff, they won’t function.”
During the peak of the omicron wave in January 2022, hospitals servicing the Hills and the Yarra Valley were under immense stress because of staff shortages and Covid-19 cases.
During this period, the VHA called on both the Victorian and Commonwealth government to prioritise the supply of rapid antigen tests to healthcare and aged care facilities, extend the surge allowance for frontline healthcare works and expand the payment to aged care workers, and help resolve worker turnover and shortages.
Mr Symondson said the VHA welcomed three out of four recommendations had been partially delivered.
“Both the Victorian and Commonwealth governments prioritised the supply of rapid antigen tests to healthcare and aged care facilities,” he said.
“The Victorian Government’s surge allowance for frontline healthcare workers was extended to 31 March 2022, which the VHA welcomed. However, the program was not extended to support all healthcare workers in patient-facing roles, such as community health service staff supporting Victoria’s most vulnerable community members through the HRAR program,
“The surge allowance program is now ending, along with other programs designed to support the surge response, such as the surge models of care.”
Despite the Aged Care Workforce Bonus Payment being launched on 1 February 2022, worker turnover and shortages continue to be an issue for the sector.
