Victorian government pledges $307m boost for embattled health system
A wide-reaching new $307m package is set to help the state’s besieged healthcare system cope with a predicted surge in Covid patients.
Victoria
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Victoria’s besieged health system will be boosted with a wide-reaching new $307m package to cope with the predicted surge in Covid patients.
In a bid to respond to the record demand on the hospital network, the state government on Friday unveiled the package designed at alleviating the added pressures on the health system.
It will include $87m for the Hospital in the Home program which helps to keep both Covid and non-Covid patients at home.
That investment is expected to free up more than 100 public hospital beds in metropolitan Melbourne.
An injection of $42m will employ more than 150 extra staff as part of the Covid Positive Pathways program to assess the medical and social supports that are needed for Covid positive infections to remain at home as they recover.
That funding will also provide oximeters and home oxygen units to remotely monitor the symptoms of unwell patients. It will also establish dedicated triage spaces in the program for people who deteriorate and urgently require hospitalisations.
The state’s paramedic workforce is set to receive more than $40m to manage the increased caseload.
A Covid Clinical Reserves Unit will be established through $2.6m to support the rapid deployment of skilled staff – from a pool of about 140 people – to regional health services that may be impacted by furloughing and high levels of community transmission.
Extra workforce measures include $3.6m to support 3000 critical care training places and employ 24 health educators on wards to provide additional training for 750 multidisciplinary clinicians in ICU surge and acute care.
A further $12m will be deployed to Aboriginal health organisations in regional and metropolitan areas to increase clinical sessions, in-home care and healthcare co-ordination between Aboriginal and mainstream services.
Additional funding will also support patients with a disability who are currently in a metropolitan hospital and are medically fit for discharge but are waiting in hospital for NDIS packages and accommodation.
Meanwhile, geriatric clinicians will be deployed to residential aged care facilities to reduce avoidable hospital admissions, while between 10 and 20 per cent of the metropolitan palliative care beds are expected to be freed up over the next five months.
Health Minister Martin Foley said the mammoth funding package will make the most of hospital resources and boost community options.
“Victorians have earnt their freedoms, but for our hospital staff and ambos the worst is yet to come,” Mr Foley said.
“The latest health performance data shows how much pressure Covid has put on our health system. I could not be prouder of our healthcare workers for rising to the challenge and continuing to care for Victorians.
“This new funding will make the most of our hospital resources and boost community care options so that we can manage extra demand as case numbers rise.”
It comes as new health service and ambulance performance data has revealed that 500,735 patients were admitted to hospitals between June and September this year – an increase of 7112 on the previous quarter, and by 71,949 a year earlier.
Emergency departments saw 445,373 patients in the three-month period, up by 83,042 when compared to a year earlier.
Patients occupied a total of 1.389 million bed-days in hospitals, up by more than 164,000 compared to a year ago – with Covid patients, in particular, staying in hospital longer than normal.
Victoria’s most urgent Category 1 elective surgery patients were treated within the benchmark 30 days – with half being seen within 12 days.
Just over 47,500 patients from the waiting list received surgery and treatment during that quarter.
As of September 30, Victoria’s elective surgery waiting list was at 67,596, but health authorities anticipate that number will increase in the next quarter as a result of the current restrictions on non-urgent elective surgery.
Ambulance Victoria attended a total of 80,459 Code 1 urgent calls over the three month period – 11,792 more than a year earlier.
The average response time statewide was 13 minutes and 39 seconds.
Just over 67 per cent of patients were transferred from ambulances to hospital care within the 40 minute benchmark – a slight increase from the previous quarter.
Ambulance Victoria is currently experiencing record levels of day. On average, around 2000 emergency cases including around 1000 Code 1 call-outs every day.
Of those, about 200 patients per day have coronavirus. During this wave, 14 paramedics have contracted the virus, but a large proportion aren’t expected to have caught it while on shift.
The funding will provide 58 non-emergency patient transport vehicles, more than 200 student paramedics, 13 additional Peak Period Units and additional employees to provide care and assist with flow at emergency departments.
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