The confronting state of Victoria’s ‘broken’ healthcare system laid bare

Victoria’s under-siege healthcare system has “broken” staff, prompting calls for the state government to offer more than “lip service” to address the issue.

And it’s simply wrong to blame COVID for the staff shortages, says the President of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

Press PLAY below to hear her confronting assessment of the situation

The Royal Children’s Hospital issued a warning to parents not to bring their children to emergency on Monday night, as they were facing 12-hour waits, while elective surgery has been paused at The Alfred due to staff shortages.

Dr Clare Skinner said “this is what happens” when the system relies on staff working overtime and taking extra shifts.

“COVID is not the only problem here,” she said on 3AW.

“We have a healthcare workforce that is burned out, has poor morale and just doesn’t have anything left in the tank anymore to pull those extra hours that we rely on to keep the system running as normal.”

She called on the government to be “up front” with the public about the issue, with tempers flaring in hospitals from frustrated patients and their families who can’t understand the delays.