In Victoria, ambulance ramping was connected with dozens of preventable deaths even before COVID-19 hit. According to one report, ambulance ramping in Victoria might have been associated with at least 70 preventable deaths in 2018. Recently, a heart attack victim waited 30 minutes for an ambulance and then spent 4 hours ramped in the ambulance waiting to be admitted into a hospital emergency department. Examples like this are all too common in Victoria’s healthcare system. At the same time, the increase has been compounded by the mental health impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns. 

Dan Andrews has been either Health Minister or Premier for 11 of the last 15 years, and his mismanagement of the health system has pushed it to its current state - crisis point.

Between March 2020 and March 2022, one in four young Australians between 16 and 24 years-old thought about suicide and 15 per cent attempted self-harm. Eighty-two per cent of young people surveyed said they had experienced mental health issues during COVID-19. Mental health issues have increased in recent years and have surged since the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the National Mental Health Survey, mental ill health in young people has increased by 50% between 2007 and 2022. 

Victoria’s broken health system needs a major review with particular attention paid to staffing, emergency capacity, acute care beds, and transition into aged care. Improvements in these areas will prevent delays in early diagnosis of cancer, diabetes and early treatment of stroke. I’ll also support expanding our mental health workforce and ensuring no more lockdowns, a key contributor to the mental health crisis.