Ministers could be questioned over suspicion of government interference in the reporting of the critical health data

The Premier says his government never told Ambulance Victoria to avoid declaring Code Reds after revelations it could face an IBAC probe over its reporting of ambulance data in the lead-up to the 2022 election.

Daniel Andrews says his government never instructed Ambulance Victoria to avoid declaring Code Reds in the lead-up to last year’s election.

It comes after the Herald Sun on Wednesday revealed the Andrews government is facing the prospect of another corruption probe over the reporting of critical Ambulance Victoria data, following a referral by the Victorian Ombudsman.

A formal investigation could see key ministers and staff questioned over suspicion of government interference in the reporting of the critical health data.

It will be the fourth ongoing probe into the Andrews government and it’s members and comes just weeks after a scathing report into government corruption found “ample evidence of the misuse of power and influence by ministerial advisers and departmental executives who breached codes of conduct and established conventions”.

An inquiry would be the Andrews government’s fifth corruption probe. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Leaked Ambulance Victoria data reveals that in the weeks prior to last year’s state election the agency responded to 1200 Code 1 calls on 11 consecutive days.

Despite the high level of demand, not a single Code Red was called during this period.

Just a week after the Andrews government was re-elected, a Code Red was declared when 1250 Code 1 calls were received.

But on Wednesday, the Premier, who said he had a long held practice of not commenting on matters that may or not may be before IBAC, said he had not been contacted by the anti-corruption agency.

He said the government wasn’t notified until after a code red had been enacted because it was a “deeply operational matter”.

“Let’s be very clear about this — the government has no involvement in code calls made by Ambulance Victoria,” he said.

“They are made by Ambulance Victoria and the Department and the Minister (Gabrielle Williams) are informed of those calls after they’ve happened.

“Not before, not during and to suggest otherwise is simply wrong.”

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier asked Ms Glass to investigate whether Ambulance Victoria was improperly influenced to not declare a Code Red until after the election.

“It seems one of the triggers of the Code Red declaration in December 2022 was the existence of more than 1250 cases on 2 December 2022; said to be “well and truly above” normal demand,” she said.

Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog is considering apparent inconsistencies in the reporting of Code Reds. Picture: Getty Images

“Yet, in November 2022, there were 11 consecutive days when Ambulance Victoria responded to 1200 or more code 1 calls.

Victoria’s health system faced intense strain as Covid cases soared in the weeks before the election.

A succession of Code Oranges were called in November to deal with high demand, reduced ambulance availability and staffing shortages.

The number of staff furloughed due to Covid more than tripled within weeks.

The matter has been referred to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.

Ms Crozier said Victorians deserved to know if ambulance emergencies were deliberately covered up in the weeks prior to the State Election.

“These are deeply troubling revelations that go to the heart of the lack of integrity under the Andrews government,” she said.

“Vital health data must never be a political plaything.”

Despite the high level of demand, not a single Code Red was called in the weeks before last year’s election. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A government spokesperson said Code Reds were an operational matter for Ambulance Victoria that were not simply based on aggregate triple-0 calls.

Factors that determined emergency escalations included, but were not limited to, fleet and staff availability, hospital flow, ambulance dispatch queue and number of high priority cases.

“The Department of Health and the relevant Minister are not notified of an emergency escalation until after it has been issued,” she said.

In a report tabled last month IBAC made 17 recommendations and called for sweeping changes to limit the powers of ministerial advisers.

Daniel Andrews sought to dismiss the report as an “educational report”, despite it detailing alarming behaviour by his office and staff.

Speaking after the release of IBAC’s Operation Daintree report, Mr Andrews said the watchdog made no findings of corruption, and was done under its powers to provide educational advice.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said workload escalations were enacted in accordance with Emergency Response Plan procedures.

“Workload escalations are not based on daily case numbers,” they said.

“A decision on whether to enact an escalation is made in real time considering actual ambulance demand compared with ambulance availability at that particular time.”

Both IBAC and the Victorian Ombudsman refused to comment.