People in life-threatening emergencies from Wyndham are waiting longer for ambulances under the Baillieu Government, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health Wade Noonan said.

Member for Tarneit Tim Pallas said documents obtained under freedom of information show that waiting times in Werribee had blown out from 10 minutes 30 sections to 12 minutes 26 seconds in the last 12 months. This is an extra 1 minute 56 seconds, or an 18 per cent increase.

In Hoppers Crossing the response time increased from 10 minutes 30 seconds to 12 minutes 21 seconds (an extra 1 minute 51 seconds, also an 18 per cent increase) and in Point Cook from 11 minutes 40 seconds to 13 minutes 11 seconds (an extra 1 minute 31 seconds, a 13 per cent increase).

“Before the last election, Mr Baillieu said Victorians deserve the highest quality ambulance services and have the right to expect timely responses during emergencies,” Mr Pallas said.

“But these documents show that the situation is getting worse, with people from Werribee waiting on average almost 2 minutes longer for an ambulance to arrive.

“In an emergency, such as a heart attack or car accident, seconds can be vital in saving lives.”

Mr Pallas said the data helped explain why one in four ambulances failed to meet the government’s own state-wide target of responding to life-threatening emergencies within 15 minutes over the 2011/12 period.

“Under Mr Baillieu’s watch the number of ambulances arriving at the scene of a life-threatening emergency within 15 minutes dropped to 74.8 per cent, a blow-out of almost 6 per cent since 2010,” Mr Pallas said. 

“These figures, from the first six months of 2012, reveal that ambulances are taking longer to reach car accidents and heart attack victims in need of life-saving assistance.

“And its not just residents in Wyndham that are waiting longer – every suburb in Melbourne is feeling the impact of Mr Baillieu’s blow-outs in ambulance response times.

Mr Pallas said the Baillieu Government’s $616 million health funding cuts for the blow-out in ambulance response times.  

“Delays in patient handover processes at hospitals are taking ambulances off the road for longer than ever before,” he said. 

“Ambulances with patients are being held up for hours outside emergency departments across Melbourne because hospitals are buckling under the pressure caused by the Baillieu Government budget cuts. 

“Victorians are not only waiting longer for a hospital bed under the Baillieu Government, but they’re also waiting longer for an ambulance too and that’s placing lives at risk.

“Our ambulance paramedics do a great job under extreme pressure, but they’re being stretched to the limit by the Baillieu Government.”