The $1.5 billion Footscray Hospital opened more than six months ago, but doctors say it is not functioning at its full capacity due to funding shortfalls. A senior doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said patients arriving in emergency with conditions such as appendicitis, abscesses, gallbladder or colon issues were waiting up to 72 hours for surgery. “Some of these patients are discharging themselves in disgust because they’ve been waiting three days for their procedures,” the doctor told the Brisbane Times and Sydney Morning Herald. “Everyone is saying how amazing the new facility is, which it is, but the problem is the government has not increased any operational funding to meet the increasing demand.”
Demand for emergency surgery at Western Health, which operates the hospital, has surged 51 percent over the past five years. The doctor said at least two operating theatres remained closed and a diagnostic scanner was idle because of insufficient staff. Western Health said all category one planned surgeries — the most urgent — were being completed within the required 30-day timeframe.
New data from the Victorian Agency for Health Information, released late last week, showed the median wait for treatment in the emergency department was 31 minutes, compared to the statewide average of 15 minutes. That was five minutes longer than in the January-to-March period this year, when the average was 26 minutes. The hospital was built to serve Melbourne's rapidly growing outer western suburbs, but staff say the state government has not increased operational funding to match patient numbers.