In a statement last Thursday, Opposition spokesman for health David Davis said hidden data, not publicly available, had revealed that 533 people were forced to wait more than 24 hours for a hospital bed, treatment or a transfer at the hospital's emergency department from July 2008 to September 2009.

Contacted by the Weekly, Eastern Health said its statistics showed a huge reduction in waiting times. Comparing the figures for July-September 2008-09 and July-September 2009-10, the results had improved from 344 24-hour stays to 34 24-hour stays, Eastern Health said. Since December 2009, the hospital had only recorded one 24-hour stay, it said.

Clinical and site operations chief Lisa Shaw-Stuart said the 'hidden' data presented did not represent the current situation at Maroondah Hospital.

"We have worked hard to reduce the number of people waiting in our emergency department, and we have seen a significant decrease in the number of patients waiting more than 24 hours. We are proud of our improvements in emergency access."

Mr Davis said Victorians were suffering because of the state government's mismanagement of the health system.

"People have no choice but to walk out of emergency departments, fed up after waiting for hours, or being forced to languish for days on a hospital trolley.

"After 11 years in power, John Brumby has done nothing to fix the growing crisis in our hospitals, and these embarrassing figures reveal that thousands are forced to wait more than 24 hours for bed, which could have a significant impact on patient health."