Ambulance crisis

[Pies4shaw]

I am not a "cheer leader". I do not vote for the ALP. Try to grow up and understand what the big people are saying.

[watt price tully]

[stui magpie]

All states have had their hospital systems impacted by Covid, bed blockage and Ambulance issues. Victoria's failure is bigger.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/triple-zero-crisis-government-failed-to-address-esta-funding-problems-20220905-p5bfjl.html

[eddiesmith]

[watt price tully]

[stui magpie]

Staff shortages are one thing, and largely out of any governments control. Where the Andrews government, and others before it, have been criminally negligent is in investment in ICT. Remember, I worked in Snr Mgmt (And for short periods on the Executive) of a major Metro public health service, so while you have the view from the shop floor, I had the holistic view from above as well as being in a position to hear directly from those on the shop floor.

I got to see first hand how the Department put onerous and often conflicting KPIs on health services, putting them under serious pressure to meet them but gave no assistance or resources to support them.

When I first joined health in 2008 after 20+ years at Telstra, my first reaction was WTF, I've gone to a 3rd world country. By working closely with a few of the ICT people, usually against the wishes of the head of ICT ( who in my opinion was an idiot) we managed to cobble together some things and introduce some new systems to dramatically improve things for both HR and ICT, but clinical areas were relying on multiple different Access Databases written in obsolete unsupported software by people who no longer worked there.

It was only shortly before I left in 2017 that the government started to do something about cyber security. I was on the steering committee at my service and the initial audit was frightening.

They've known for years the ESTA software needed replacing and did nothing until the fecal matter hit the spinning air circulation device then suddenly agree to implement all the recommendations. When Covid first hit, our contact tracing capability was something from the early 80s. Pen and paper. There's no foresight, direction or investment.

Yeah you need Doctors, Nurses and Allied Health staff on the shop floor and staff shortages hurts, but making them use crap, antiquated, time consuming systems and processes just exacerbates the problem.

/ Rant.

[watt price tully]

I’ve been a senior nurse advisor before, a director of nursing and regional manager for CSV & the Department of Health. I know the top down view quite well and have current links to the bureaucracy.

I made a conscious decision to get out and go back to clinical work. I’m familiar with how bureaucracies work and how the state government works.

Jesus, Kennett cut my budget by 12% in one hit when I was managing an institution.

Both the Libs and the ALP were using the same economic rationalist players who had the view of doing more with less when dealing with people. The height challenged Secretary of the Dep’t when he first took over said “ I’m glad I’m an economist and not a social worker” when he first started in 1990. He’s dead now John Patterson, Scumbag of the highest order. The language of re-engineering as noted earlier doing more with less was the currency at the time. After successive cuts to my budget (which started under Kirner) I chose to teach then take up Mental Health.

[roar]

[stui magpie]

^

Look at which party has been in power for the most of the past 20 years and there's your percentage sorted.

Also, to paraphrase what I posted previously before the discussion was crudely interrupted and relevant posts deleted, the biggest failure of the Andrews government in public health has been in ICT. ESTA is just one example.

Having Drs, Nurses and Allied Health staff on the shop floor is critical but they need to be supported by good ICT which in my time there was not the case.

[Jezza]

[think positive]