Patient defends paramedics over 'fake' photos
A patient who was in the Frankston Hospital on the night a controversial photo of overcrowding was taken has come forward to support the paramedics' version of events.
The Victorian Government has accused the ambulance workers' union of using patients as 'pawns' to stage a photograph of an overcrowded emergency ward in a bid to gain attention in their bitter industrial dispute.
Photos from the Frankston Hospital were released to the media in early July showing patients on trolleys in crammed conditions. They were published alongside stories about hospital overcrowding and ambulance ramping.
The government on Thursday released CCTV video which showed people in the ambulance union's "Code Red" industrial campaign t-shirts moving patients around the emergency department before taking photographs.
Health Minister David Davis said it showed members had deliberately set up a photo opportunity - a claim vehemently denied by the Ambulance Employees' Association.
Union secretary Steve McGhie said patients were not moved for a photo, but because the rest of the emergency ward was full.
Judi McGrath, who was admitted to Frankston Hospital at around midnight on the night in question, told 7News reporter Laurel Irving the emergency ward was chaotic and hospital staff were rushed off their feet.
"It was extremely crowded...that particular night was very, very busy," she said.
"I was taken straight through and they actually had to move trolleys out of the way to get me through.
"There were trolleys, people and stuff everywhere.
"I spoke to the doctor and said 'Oh my God you're busy tonight' and he said we've had 86 people through the emergency room outside the waiting room, let alone in the emergency ward.
"It didn't ease up. It was like that the whole time.
"I got up to go to the ladies and when I got back my bed had been stripped and I was out of there."
Yesterday, Victorian Health Minister David Davis slammed the CCTV video, saying a small group of "hardline unionists" had been prepared to mistreat patients to further their own agenda.
"Instead of looking after patients, they were more interested in looking after themselves," Mr Davis said.
The Ambulance Employees Association defended its members, saying there was no need to set up photos due to the high rate of ramping in hospitals across the state.
"Moving beds around when you have ramping at a hospital is not unusual because you've got to get the next patient in," Mr McGhie added.
He said there was no question a photo was taken, but the matter was under investigation by Ambulance Victoria and it was unfair of the government to speak out while that was ongoing.
"People were asked whether the photo was set up and every paramedic that was asked as part of the investigation denied it," Mr McGhie said.
Ambulance Victoria and the paramedics union have been locked in wage negotiations for more than a year.
Mr Davis said the vision called into question other claims made by the ambulance union and there was evidence that similar incidents had occurred elsewhere.
Ambulance Victoria action regional manager Andrew Watson said they were aware of the footage.
"We are treating the matter as serious and currently conducting an investigation," Mr Watson said.
