State’s record a disaster

IT may be that “ramping (was) associated with 70 preventable deaths in chest-pain patients during 2018 alone”, but tragically, there was a 2022 “fatal wait” for an ambulance for a 14-year-old asthmatic recently reported in this newspaper (“Ramping crisis predates Covid:, HS, 30/6).

That Werribee GP Joe Garra states: “people (might) second guess their need for emergency help” suggests there could be even greater numbers of preventable deaths now, reflecting a truly horrifying indictment of this state’s health system. Moreover, with a government spokesman saying the government had invested more than $12bn to get the health system “back on track since Covid”, one can only wonder where and how those billions of dollars have actually been invested. An audit seems urgently needed.

Considering that the “damning research debunks the government’s claim that much of the crisis is related to Covid sickness and absenteeism”, one can only wonder how many other health and social crises, especially the increased incidence of family violence and mental health problems, have conveniently been blamed on Covid.

The track record of government politicians all “unable” to remember , or know, who hired the security company during hotel quarantine reveals that expecting constructive changes and care of the community is no more than a fatuous fantasy without substance.

The government’s abrogation of responsibility and feigned ignorance suggests people’s lives are of no significance. It is imperative the opposition becomes a credible choice in November, to save lives and Victorians’ sanity.