By Cam Lucadou-Wells and Victoria Stone-Meadows
Ambulance response times in Casey have been repaired due to “record investment” and reforms, says Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan.
In Casey, 84.1 per cent of ambulances arrive within 15 minutes for Code One emergencies – up from 80.5 per cent a year ago, according to official performance data.
The average waiting time for an ambulance to a Code One emergency in Casey has dropped from just over 12 minutes to 11 minutes, 28 seconds.
“Families across Casey can have peace of mind that paramedics are now responding even quicker to medical emergencies, where every second counts,” Mr Donnellan said.
The 2017-’18 State Budget includes $26.5 million – on top of the government’s $500 million plan to improve response time including the employment of 450 more paramedics.
According to the State Government, ambulance response times are at their swiftest since 2010.
At the height of an “ambulance crisis” during the previous Liberal Government’s term in 2012-’13, only 73 per cent of Code One response times were less than the 15-minute benchmark.
Now, 80 per cent are meeting the benchmark, the government claims.
The state opposition claim that the government has manipulated data by attending fewer urgent cases.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the government had “changed the rules around what is a Code One response time – and lo and behold they got the best response times in seven years”.
“If I say the goal square is now four times wide and where I was previously kicking it out of bounds I am now kicking a goal, then sure, that works.
“It shows the government is more interested in spin than it is people’s health which is what ambulance response times are linked to.”
