A government media release, as one would expect, claims that “Victoria’s doctors, nurses and surgical teams delivered the most planned surgeries on record – marking the second consecutive record-breaking year across the state’s public hospitals – as the Allan Labor Government continues to deliver new initiatives to help more Victorians get the surgery they need, faster”.
It claimed that by delivering 7498 surgeries for patients, dedicated healthcare workers at Sunshine Hospital helped contribute to a record of more than 212,000 surgeries statewide.
“The dedicated doctors, nurses and surgical teams at Western Health have contributed to the record-breaking number of surgeries in Victoria this year – with this hard work helping more Melton locals get the care they need, sooner and closer to home,” Member for Melton Steve McGhie said.
“A record-breaking 58,264 patients received planned surgery in the last quarter – a 13 per cent rise compared to pre-pandemic levels – with the overall waitlist down 3.7 per cent since last quarter.
“This quarter, all Category 1 patients continued to be treated within the recommended time, and median wait times for Category 2 and 3 patients improved by five and 25 days, respectively, from the same quarter last year”.
Barely giving the VicHealth pass marks, the Shadow Minister for Health, Gerogie Crozier points to the long list of patients still waiting for vital surgeries in Victoria.
Ms Crozier points to the new report from the Victorian Auditor-General which revealed that Labor’s COVID Catch-up Plan for planned surgery has fallen well short of what the government promised to deliver.
A snapshot of the Victorian Auditor-General’s latest report:
- Failure to meet surgery targets: Labor’s $1.5 billion COVID Catch-up Plan promised 240,000 planned surgeries in 2023-24 but delivered just 209,925.
- Botched private hospital partnership: Labor’s plan to use private hospitals to cut the backlog delivered just 31,209 extra surgeries instead of the promised 51,200.
- Delays in timely care: The plan aimed for 95 per cent of patients to be treated within clinically recommended timeframes but failed to meet this target.
- Underperformance of new surgical centres: Frankston’s new public surgical centre performed just 6053 procedures in its first full year, well short of its 9000 target. Blackburn’s surgical centre missed its target of 5760, only delivering 1519 surgeries.
- Lack of transparency: The government fails to provide full transparency on the true number of patients on waiting lists for surgery at all Victorian public health services. This means that the surgery waitlist is likely much higher than 58,627.
“Labor promised to clear the backlog, but instead thousands of Victorians are still waiting too long for the health care they need”, Ms Crozier said.
“This is a damning report that exposes not just a failure of Labor to deliver, but also a deliberate refusal to be transparent about the true state of our surgery waiting lists.
“Victorians deserve a government that puts patients first, not more political spin”, Ms Crozier added.
In the meantime, guided by the Planned Surgery Blueprint, the Labor Government is continuing to focus on – shortening wait times, expanding non-surgical alternatives, preparing patients for faster recovery, increasing same day surgeries and boosting capacity through dedicated health infrastructure like Rapid Access Hubs and Public Surgical Centres.
To further support regional patients, the Labor Government is also establishing an additional five new Patient Support Units (PSUs) – helping patients navigate the surgery process by coordinating care, exploring alternative treatment pathways, and keeping patients informed throughout their journey.
These will be established at Central Highlands Rural Health, Mildura Base Public Hospital, Echuca Regional Health, Colac Area Health and Bass Coast Health – bringing the total number of PSUs to 28 statewide.
Victoria’s emergency departments faced record demand last quarter, with more than 513,200 presentations and despite this, treatment times improved.
Victoria’s hardworking paramedics continue to face significant winter demand, responding to more than 98,000 lights and sirens cases, averaging almost 1,100 cases every day.
Improvements have been backed by the Labor Government’s new Standards for Safe and Timely Ambulance and Emergency Care to deliver faster care, support staff in busy emergency departments, and get paramedics back on the road sooner.
Since launching in February this year, the standards have saved the equivalent of 940 days of wait time and freed up more than 4,000 paramedic shifts, while 70 per cent of ambulance transfers were completed within 40 minutes.
The Labor Government’s Victorian Virtual Emergency Department and Urgent Care Clinics are also continuing to help ease pressure, helping Victorians access the care they need while avoiding a trip to the emergency.