Opposition slams Andrews government’s failure to properly fund upgrades to the IT system

The Andrews government was warned in 2018 about the need for an urgent IT upgrade, prompting the opposition to ask: “What the hell’s the government been doing?”

The state government was warned almost five years ago about critical failings with the IT system running the crisis-riddled Triple-0 service.

The Herald Sun has been told a secret report prepared in 2018 found the system needed an urgent upgrade but raised concerns about doing so without an effective backup system in place.

It was one of more than a dozen reviews into the computer aided dispatch (CAD) system since the Andrews government came to power in 2014.

Despite spending more than $5 million on the reviews the system has continued to be plagued with problems with call takers forced to use pen and paper on Thursday due to an IT issue.

IT issues have plagued the state’s triple-0 service. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Opposition leader Matthew Guy slammed the government’s failure to properly fund upgrades to the system.

“For our health system to be reduced to pen and paperwork, because the electronic system crashed is unfathomable in the year 2022,” he said.

“What the hell’s the government been doing for the last two and a half years while we’ve been locked down?

“They said they’d fix the system, but it’s gotten worse. The health system is sick in Victoria.”

A report by former police chief Graham Ashton into the Emergency Services and Telecommunications Authority, which operates Triple-0, was handed down last week.

It found critical failings across the service including with the CAD system that was not fit to meet future needs.

Stakeholders had “expressed significant concern regarding the capability of ESTA’s current technology services” throughout the review.

“This assessment found that ESTA’s technology services are basic and meet only the minimum requirements,” the review said.

“Some of the key concerns are related to not meeting community expectations and its legacy technology platforms, like the CAD system.

“As ESOs (emergency services organisations) rely mostly on ESTA’s CAD system to dispatch and manage responses, limited and poor functionality is not acceptable.”

Opposition emergency services spokesman Brad Battin said Daniel Andrews had been aware of the risk to the service for years.

“He has chosen to ignore it. Even as recently as April, the government denied there was an issue and were more interested in covering it up with more Labor spin,” he said.

“This is about people’s lives, not protecting the Premier’s position.”

The Herald Sun revealed last month a backup to the fatally flawed triple-0 system was yet to get underway, more than six months after it was first flagged as a critical issue.

A tender process to build the backup system was launched in July.

Without it ESTA officials have conceded a worst-case scenario could lead to multiple deaths in the event of a main system failure.

ESTA insists “all critical defects were resolved” with the system in April 2021.

‘Enormous’ demand before code red

Andrews government Minister Martin Pakula wasn’t able to explain what caused the extreme demand for ambulances overnight.

“My understanding is there was enormous demand last night,” he said.

“Now I imagine a portion of that was people with serious Covid and flu symptoms, but beyond that I’m not sure.

“You never want to see a code red, it’s certainly not preferable.”

Mr Pakula said the state government was doing everything they could to invest money into the buckling health system but admitted that it will “take a bit of time” before they see the desired effects.

“When the government sees a system under pressure, it hires the additional staff and makes the additional investment of hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said.

“That is not something that has an immediate impact – you don’t just go from problem to resolution overnight.

“I don’t expect people who are in the midst of a medical emergency to focus on that.

“But that is the reality of the situation … and it will take a little bit of time before that has the sort of impact we want it to have.”

The Labor MP said it would be “wrong” to suggest the ambulance crisis was a “Victorian only problem”.

“It’s being replicated across the country, and I suspect without knowing details that it’s happening everywhere in the world,” he said.

“This is not a pandemic that just switches off you know from one day to the next.”

Mr Pakula urged Victorians to only call triple-zero for emergencies only.

“It does behoove me to remind everyone to please ensure that you reserve triple-zero for emergencies only,” he said.

“It’s a crucial service for people who are suffering from acute medical emergencies.”

Code red declared as IT system crashes

Victoria’s emergency services have suffered through another night of “extreme demand” as code red was declared after an IT system failure.

In a text message sent to paramedics, and seen by the Herald Sun, Ambulance Victoria implored staff to pick up a shift as soon as possible at midnight on Friday.

“Code Red,” the text read.

“Shift Location: 10 x ALS (Advanced Life Support) resources required, 10 x medium or low acuity nept for code red workload escalation.”

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said a code red escalation was enacted following high demand for services and a technical system issue at ESTA.

“Ambulance Victoria worked with ESTA to resolve the issue within about 30 minutes,” they said.

It’s understood the major IT failure contributed to additional delays after the computer dispatch system crashed, forcing operators to resort to pen and paper.

In a statement released at 1.45am, Ambulance Victoria said there was an “extreme demand” for services.

“Ambulance Victoria is aware of delays in ambulances reaching patients in metropolitan

Ramping outside Royal Melbourne Hospital on Friday. Picture: Tony Gough

Melbourne at present,” the statement said.

“We remind the community to please call Nurse on Call 1300 60 60 24 or visit their local GP if their illness is not an emergency.

“Our priority is to provide care to Victorians who require lifesaving assistance.”

The demand lasted for around one hour with services returning to normal at 2.50am.

Victorian Ambulance Union General Secretary Danny Hill revealed that 70 patients were waiting for an ambulance at one point.

“We were incredibly busy,” he said.

“They had at one point 70 cases pending, that’s 70 patients who called up and needed an ambulance but one was not available.

“While that was happening, the system crashed and they had to go to manual.”

He told the Herald Sun the CAD system – which is used to locate crews and identify who is closest to a new case for maximum efficiency – only crashed in the metropolitan area and was still functioning in regional Victoria.

He said it was vital the nearest available crew was dispatched “when patients’ lives are at risk” but this wasn’t always possible overnight.

“It completely crashed unfortunately,” he said.

“It was incredibly stressful (for workers in the control room).

“Our members in communications, they can look at the whole state and see this gigantic resource gap.

“They can see the areas that can’t be covered, it’s incredibly stressful to anyone.”

Victorian Ambulance general secretary Danny Hill says some firm decisions must be made. Picture: AAP

Mr Hill said the text message sent to crews before 1am was difficult as hospitals were hit hard.

“With crews being so burnt out, it’s very hard to do in the middle of the night,” he said.

“This is right across the whole healthcare system.

“When this happens, it’s not just about the ambulance.”

He called on the government to “make some firm decisions” and said paramedics were being used as a taxi service to hospitals by patients who don’t need an ambulance.

“I think there needs to be some firm decisions about what the ambulance service is for and what they do,” he said.

“We can be a taxi service or we can be used to save lives, but we can’t do both.

“We’re tied up with low acuity cases.

“Some of these cases, there’s not really a need for an ambulance response, the person has been able to get into see their GP, or find their own way to hospital.

“There’s a lot of reliance on the ambulance service to come into the system.”

It comes as ambulances continue to ramp at major hospitals including the Alfred Hospital and Royal Melbourne Hospital on Friday morning.

The Herald Sun on Wednesday revealed the true extent of the crisis, with whistleblowers declaring Victorian hospitals did not have enough funding or staff to open all their beds.

Hospital insiders and industry leaders warned they would not be able to tackle massive surgery backlogs or properly staff wards and emergency departments unless systemic failings are fixed.