AMA Victoria’s regional and rural advocacy moved into a more public phase this week, with an ABC report on 10 August highlighting serious overcrowding and patient safety concerns in regional emergency departments. It described patients waiting more than 40 hours for inpatient beds, care being delivered in unsuitable spaces, insufficient senior supervision and staff working under sustained pressure.
The report drew attention to the number of patients spending more than 24 hours in emergency departments. From January to March 2026, 2330 of the 3342 patients who remained in an emergency department for more than 24 hours were in regional and sub-regional hospitals, almost 70 per cent of the statewide total. The statewide target for stays of this length is zero. The report reflected concerns raised by members and reinforced issues AMA Victoria has been pursuing directly with government around hospital capacity, patient flow and workforce pressures.
That advocacy predates the report. On 5 June 2025, we wrote to then Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas about access block and broader system pressures in regional Victoria. More recently, we raised operational pressures at Ballarat Base Hospital with then Health Minister Harriet Shing on 9 July and her successor, Ingrid Stitt, on 5 August. Following the ABC report, we wrote again to Minister Stitt, Shadow Minister for Health Georgie Crozier and Victorian Greens health spokesperson Dr Sarah Mansfield about the broader pressures facing regional health services.
AMA Victoria has called for a statewide zero-tolerance approach to emergency department stays of more than 24 hours, backed by stronger escalation and public reporting. But prolonged stays are a symptom of wider problems with hospital capacity, patient flow and access to care across regional Victoria. Addressing them requires investment in inpatient capacity, the regional medical workforce and services outside hospital, as well as modern digital infrastructure, including a clear timetable for the rollout of electronic medical records. We have also called for a parliamentary inquiry into regional and rural healthcare access and outcomes, alongside a funded long-term reform plan.
Workforce is, of course, central to that picture. Protected industrial action by Victorian public hospital doctors commenced this week after almost 12 months of bargaining without an offer being put to doctors. It is the first such action in 20 years.
The dispute is statewide, but many of the issues at its heart, including excessive hours, unpaid work and fatigue, as well as Victoria’s ability to attract and retain doctors, are also fundamental to the sustainability of regional and rural services. Capacity cannot be separated from workforce.
These issues are also being pursued directly with Victoria’s political leaders. AMA Victoria is meeting Shadow Minister for Health Georgie Crozier this week and expects to meet Minister Stitt early next week. Regional healthcare and workforce pressures will be among the issues raised in those discussions.
Those discussions come as Victoria approaches the November election. AMA Victoria’s election work is already under way, bringing together priorities shaped by our advocacy throughout the term and by what members tell us matters in practice.
Regional hospital capacity, workforce sustainability and safe working conditions form part of that work, alongside the viability of general practice and private specialist care in the face of rising costs, and the administrative and regulatory requirements that shape doctors’ working lives.
AMA Victoria remains non-partisan and engages across the political spectrum. Over the coming months, including through our planned health debate, we will press the Government, Opposition and other parties for clear commitments and show members where each party stands.