The release of the Your Hospitals report today confirms Victorian hospitals are in crisis and are not a priority of the Brumby Government, with the system buckling under the pressure of the government’s inaction, said Helen Shardey, Shadow Minister for Health.

“There are 39,502 patients on the waiting list and 85,712 patients endured more than four hours waiting in the ED waiting room before being treated and discharged,” said Mrs Shardey.

“Each one of these reported figures represents a Victorian in pain, seeking treatment, yet they are only a small part of a continuing crisis. The state of Victorian hospitals has been rapidly declining and waiting lists are only increasing.

“The Brumby Government is clearly embarrassed by these figures, especially the failure to meet six out of the nine benchmarks in key critical areas, so it has chosen to release this damning report on the day of the Federal Budget,” said Mrs Shardey.

State-wide, the Your Hospitals report from July to December 2007 reveals:
· 39,502 patients are on the elective surgery waiting list, an increase of 2,305 patients since December 2006
· hospitals were on bypass for 3.7 per cent of the time, more than double the previous year
· 45,022 patients in the last six months waited on trolleys in emergency departments for more than eight hours, an increase of 9,242 patients from the previous year
· 85,712 patients in the last six months waited more than four hours in an ED waiting room before being treated and discharged, an increase of 9,959 patients from the previous year
· 12,693 patients in the last six months categorised as emergency cases waited longer than 10 minutes for treatment in an ED, an increase of 4,285 patients
· 54,588 patients in the last six months categorised as urgent waited more than 30 minutes before being treated, an increase of 11,770 patients
· 2,000 fewer elective surgeries undertaken than the previous year
· the non-urgent surgery waiting time increased by 18 days on the previous year
· the semi-urgent surgery waiting time increased four days on the previous year.

“These figures reveal only some of the patients languishing on hospital waiting lists, while tens of thousands are kept secret by the Brumby Government on unreported lists,” said Mrs Shardey.

“The only way to understand the full extent of pressures on hospitals and patients waiting for treatment is for the Brumby Government to fully disclose all their secret waiting lists.

“There has been a systematic failure by the Brumby Government in planning for the future of Victoria’s health system and hospitals. The report reveals hospitals are under pressure from all areas.

“The simple truth is Victorian hospitals are at maximum capacity and cannot cope with increased demand and an ageing population.

“The Brumby Government has severely under-estimated hospital demand, creating a chronic shortfall in funding. In so doing, they have placed Victorian hospitals under unsustainable pressure.

“This Labor government is out of touch with the basic health needs of Victorians. Even with an enormous State Budget tax windfall, Victorian hospitals have still been massively short-changed, with no major additional beds in the system,” said Mrs Shardey.