BENDIGO Health is buckling under pressure, with regular ambulance ramping and significant waiting times for surgeries and emergency department visits.
At any one time in Bendigo there could be up to 10 ambulances ramped, with paramedics waiting hours for their patients to receive care, holding them up from getting to the next emergency.
This will only get worse once the Allan Labor government’s forced mergers go ahead, with people from as far away as Mildura adding to the waitlist for emergency care, paediatric care, elective surgeries and even childbirth, as Mildura Base Public Hospital has already warned the state health department that it will be forced to cut services.
A recent Department of Health report revealed regional health will be consolidated into five “local health service networks” across various regions, including Loddon Mallee, where Bendigo is located.
Bendigo Hospital is set to become a hub, meaning it will serve a much larger patient population than it currently does.
Despite Premier Jacinta Allan’s portrayal of these changes as new “networks”, the reality is they are mergers that will bring detrimental consequences to the Greater Bendigo community.
Bendigo Health cannot cope with any additional strain and lives will be at risk if hospital mergers proceed as planned.
Premier Allan is deliberately obscuring the truth with political rhetoric.
Amalgamations, mergers, networks – they all mean the same thing.
The consequences will be dire.
The Allan Labor government can’t manage money, can’t manage the health system, and Bendigo residents will continue to pay the price.
Deputy Leader of The Nationals
Emma Kealy
