AMA vice-president sounds alarm over horror situations repeated ‘again and again’ in hospitals

A 70-year-old man has died while lying on a hospital stretcher at a rural hospital emergency department waiting to be seen.

The man, who went into cardiac arrest, was one of several patients forced to wait for several hours at the Bairnsdale Regional Health on Monday due to staff shortages.

Vice-president of the Australian Medical Association, Chris Moy, says it’s not an isolated case.

“This story is being repeated again and again,” he told Tony Jones, filling in for Neil Mitchell.

“The problem is across the country, due to years of underfunding, we’ve ended up with a health system that’s completely chockablock and we call it a log-jam.

“The hospitals are full because of lack of funding over a long period of time, so not enough beds, not enough staff, and also problems with the NDIS and stuff like that, so patients are stuck in there.”

Dr Moy says neither major political party’s election promises offer the health system the boost it needs.

“This is a matter of life or death,” he said.

“This is something that really matters to people.”

Press PLAY below to hear the AMA vice-president on concerning situation

The AMA has set up a website tracking how often public hospitals fail to see patients within target timeframes – hospitallogjam.com.au