A patient in Myrtleford who suffered a strangulated hernia tried to called an ambulance twice in February, but had to wait an hour for transport before finally getting another ride to the hospital.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Speaking in Victorian Parliament on Tuesday, MP Tania Maxwell asked the Ambulance Services Minister what she considered to be an appropriate response time.
"No community emergency response team was available either, and all these problems were exacerbated by the apparent failure of the ambulance crews and hospital staff to even communicate with one another about the patient's condition and the requirements," she said.
Ambulance Victoria has been in contact with the woman since the callout.
Minister Jenny Mikakos was also aware of the incident and said the woman was deemed to be "non-urgent", but was sorry to hear she had a bad experience.
"I am advised that an ambulance was dispatched to (the woman) however she had already been taken to Myrtleford hospital by private means and Ambulance Victoria was not advised," she said.
"This means that paramedics were sent to an address where there was no patient.
"A call back from Ambulance Victoria to Ms Cresswell-Dawson revealed that she was already at Myrtleford hospital."
IN OTHER NEWS:
After being assessed by nurses, the patient was then taken from Myrtleford to Wangaratta hospital by ambulance.
"An ambulance is always prioritised to respond to the sickest patients first, especially those with life-threatening conditions such as major trauma, heart attacks, strokes," Ms Mikakos said.
"I also take this opportunity to remind the community to keep Ambulance Victoria updated if they change locations so that they are able to respond in a timely and efficient manner."
Wangaratta-based MP Ms Maxwell asked what action the government would take to improve ambulance response times "especially in light now of the growing pressures confronting the state's health system because of the coronavirus".
"On the basis of the continuing emergence of so many unacceptable incidents in non-metropolitan areas these priorities are clearly not being realised," she said.
The minister said the government had invested $1 billion in Ambulance Victoria since 2014 for paramedics, stations and vehicles, including support for regional communities.