Zoe Moffatt
The average Sunbury ambulance response time has decreased by more than a minute for urgent care cases, achieving the third biggest improvement in Victoria according to the latest Ambulance Victoria (AV) response statistics.
The average response time for patients requiring urgent care or code one cases in Sunbury from October 1 to December 31, was 15.51 minutes.
It’s down from an average wait time of 17 minutes in the previous quarter, and 18.23 minutes in the quarter before.
Of the 610 responses, 61.8 per cent of them had a response time of less than 15 minutes, which is the benchmark. That’s up from 53.2 per cent in the previous quarter.
Macedon Ranges recorded a 16.30 minute response time from October 1 to December 31, which is a decrease from 16.52 in the previous quarter.
Of the 740 responses, 55.4 per cent of them had a response time of less than 15 minutes.
A spokesperson from AV said they are proud of the outstanding care their dedicated and hardworking paramedics and first responders deliver every day.
“In Sunbury, paramedics attended 61.8 per cent of code one patients within 15 minutes, up from 44.7 per cent a year earlier– the third biggest improvement in the state,” they said.
“It is also great to see people in Sunbury and Macedon embracing the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department for non-urgent cases to avoid unnecessary trips to our emergency departments.”
AV metropolitan regional director Michael Georgiou said the latest data is pleasing, but further improvement is always welcome.
“We’re happy for sure, but there’s still work to be done,” he said. “We are definitely trending in the right direction.”
With Hume seeing improvement in times two quarters in a row, Mr Georgiou is unsure if the downward trend will continue into 2024.
“It’s hard to say,” he said.
“It depends on a whole range of factors, but we hope to continue to go in a positive direction, working with other health services and the community to continue to see the best results possible.”
