Here is a story showing how after 10 years of Labor that it has ruined one of the most important Emergency Services - Ambulance Victoria.
Ambulance Victoria wait times have worsened despite falling demand versus last year. There is currently a Parliamentary Inquiry into the service. Despite Labor being in power for more than 10 years the service is riven with mistrust, ineffective management and a Board that is poliotically motivated with no idea how to fix the problem.
Jordan Emery is the new Ambulance Victoria CEO and the fourth in 3 years. What an indictment on the AV Board and the Vic Labor government.
Jordan EmeryJun'25 to present
Andrew CrispAug'24 to Jun'25 (Acting)
Jane MillerJan'23 to Aug'24 - resigned following a resounding no-confidence vote from AV staff
Tony Walker 2014to Sep'22
Walker presided over a worsening culture
Miller was a political appointement and scurried back to VicHealth Dept
Crisp was dragged away from Emergency Services Management Victoria
Emery was recruited from the massive Tassie Ambulance Service.
Now we have the mess we can see. The numbers do not lie.
Victorians are now dying because of AV disfunction. That is not in dispute.
And where was Emergency Services Minister Vicki Ward? Too scared to face the media on this, instead we see the usual Labor tactic of sending out a minister which is not their portfolio. Utterly gutless Labor, again.
God help Victoria as Labor cannot.
See article below.
**************************************************************************************** Ambulance Victoria’s response times worsen despite fewer calls
Victorian paramedics are missing urgent response benchmarks and patients are waiting longer — but the health minister is still calling for celebration. Shannon Deery
August 7, 2025 - 3:33PM
Victoria’s ambulance response times have fallen backwards despite a significant decline in demand. Picture: David Crosling
Victoria’s ambulance response times have fallen backwards despite a significant decline in demand for the service, but Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas has called for a celebration.
New data published on Thursday revealed paramedics responded to urgent Code 1 cases within the 15-minute benchmark just 65.3 per cent of the time – well below the 85 per cent target.
The quarterly figure, covering April to June, was 0.3 per cent worse than last quarter.
But Ambulance Victoria said when compared to the same time last year the figure had improved by 1.1 per cent, despite a 3.5 per cent drop in demand.
It meant paramedics responded to 98,874 Code 1 cases compared to 102,419 cases at the same time last year.
Some regional areas are still facing critical delays with response times exceeding 30 minutes while some metropolitan areas saw sharp increases in wait times.
Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas said there were ‘so many causes for celebration’ in the latest data. Picture: Ian Currie
Ambulance Victoria’s acting executive director of regional operations Michael Georgiou said average wait times were better across the state, including in 53 local government areas.
“From April to June 2025, the statewide average response time to Code 1 emergencies was 15 minutes and 27 seconds – down from 15 minutes and 37 seconds a year ago,” he said.
“There has also been an improvement in the percentage of Code 1 cases responded to within 15 minutes.”
The data comes at a critical time for Ambulance Victoria which is subject to an ongoing parliamentary inquiry and widespread criticism about its ongoing response time issues.
In June, the Herald Sun revealed crippling system delays had led to the deaths of two Victorians left to die while waiting for ambulances.
Ambulance Victoria’s acting executive director of regional operations Michael Georgiou says average wait times are better across the state. Picture: David Crosling
Other health data released on Thursday showed 58,627 Victorians were still waiting for vital surgery while the average overdue wait time for category 2 patients had blown out to 196 days — more than 100 days over the 90-day target.
Dental wait times had also increased over the past quarter.
Opposition health spokesperson Georgia Crozier said the latest results were “nothing for the government to boast about”.
“It demonstrates there are still far too many Victorians waiting for the health care they need,” she said.
“Three years ago, Labor promised to deliver 240,000 surgeries a year. They failed to meet their own target, so instead of fixing the problem, they simply changed the number.
“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage health, and it’s Victorians who are paying the price.
“There is no real improvement in any of these figures. The government has failed on what needs to be done.”
Ambulance Victoria which is subject to an ongoing parliamentary inquiry and widespread criticism about its ongoing response time issues. Picture: Nadir Kinani
Health Minister Mary Anne Thomas said there were “so many causes for celebration” in the latest data.
“We know that there is still more to do when it comes to driving down those ambulance response times,” she said.
“And it’s why Ambulance Victoria are implementing new rostering systems so we can reduce unplanned leave, it’s why we’ve introduced the standards for timely ambulance and emergency care, and it’s why we’ve got a new leadership team in place with a singular focus on improving ambulance response times here in Victoria.
“But there are so many causes for celebration in the data I.ve released today, it means more patients in Victoria are getting the care they need sooner.”
Ms Thomas said more than 212,000 surgeries, a Victorian record, were delivered over the past 12 months.
Shannon Deery
