A statement from the Victorian health department said the city’s code one response times – for life-threatening events like cardiac arrest and road trauma – have improved by 22 seconds over the last twelve months. 

In the first quarter of the 2016, 0.5 per cent more transfers from ambulances to Bendigo Health happened within the recommended 40 minute timeframe than in the previous three months.  

The performance data release coincides with an additional $144 million funding for the the ambulance system in this week’s state budget, cash that health minister Jill Hennessey said would make ambulance response times even faster.

“Our $144 million investment in our ambulance system will drive further improvements in response times, and give people in Bendigo the confidence that in an emergency they will get the care they need, when they need it,” she said. 

A statement from the minister’s office today showed other areas in which Bendigo Health improved.

The hospital saw more patients in the last quarter than previous three months, and treated 85 per cent of all its elective surgery patients within the “benchmark times” for their condition.