Indigo Shire's Bernard Gaffney spells out recent case of long wait for an ambulance in Beechworth

Indigo has plummeted to the bottom of the ladder again with just 25.3 per cent of code one incidents replied to in under 15 minutes for the fourth quarter of last financial year.

In moving a motion for council to continue attempts to bolster ambulance resources, Cr Gaffney said he had been told of a case of a Beechworth resident being woken in the night by his wife complaining of chest pains and the subsequent chain of events that led to a hour plus wait at Beechworth Health for an ambulance to come from Wodonga.

"The nurse at Beechworth Health did everything she could to comfort the victim at that point and spoke to the ambulance as well," Cr Gaffney said.

"The ambulance had to come from Wodonga and he thought it took over an hour to arrive and convey her to the Wangaratta hospital.

"What is concerning to me is people waiting that length of time and instead of waiting for an ambulance they will take their relative, neighbour or whoever is injured straight to hospital in their private car."

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Cr Gaffney said the Beechworth residents involved wished to remain anonymous.

Indigo's fourth quarter result dropped from 27.6 per cent in the previous quarter when pipped by Loddon Council area with 27.3 per cent.

But Indigo comfortably had the worst result in the state in the second quarter with 21.5 per cent.

Additional resources have been allocated in Beechworth and Chiltern and Cr Diane Shepheard hoped they would have a positive impact.

"I just hope by continuing to watch these numbers we are going to see that we improve with these new resources," she said.

"Something needs to be done.

"We can't be in the worst in the state, there is no reason for that, we are hardly remote."

Cr Gaffney said the "proof of the pudding will be in the eating" in response to the impact of extra resources.

"We would have thought there would be a new ambulance station, perhaps at Chiltern, that hasn't eventuated," he said.

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