❓ Mr. Cook questions the Minister for Health about the continued ambulance ramping despite implemented plans. The Minister attributes it to population growth, ageing population, flu season, and aged-care capacity issues.
AnsweredQoN 547Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
AMBULANCE RAMPING
547. Mr R.H. COOK to the Minister for
Health:
I refer to what the minister
described as the unacceptable level of ambulance ramping experienced so far
this month, which comes after his government implemented various plans to stop
ramping, such as using paramedics in emergency departments, and banning ramping
of longer than 30 minutes.
(1) Why has ambulance ramping
continued to spiral out of control?
(2) Is it the
case, as the Australian Medical Association stated last year, that there simply
is not the capacity in the system to take care of these patients?
547. Mr R.H. COOK to the Minister for
Health:
I refer to what the minister
described as the unacceptable level of ambulance ramping experienced so far
this month, which comes after his government implemented various plans to stop
ramping, such as using paramedics in emergency departments, and banning ramping
of longer than 30 minutes.
(1) Why has ambulance ramping
continued to spiral out of control?
(2) Is it the
case, as the Australian Medical Association stated last year, that there simply
is not the capacity in the system to take care of these patients?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(2) The
level of ramping, as it is termed, in relation to ambulances and emergency
department treatment at our public hospitals is a sign of the ever-increasing
pressure on the public hospital system in this state, in common with what
occurs in other states of Australia and, no doubt, across the western world.
The issues that cause that have been well referred to, including population
growth, an ageing population and, particularly at this time of the year, a high
incidence of flu. That has been the case in the last couple of weeks. It is
also the case that an increased number of aged-care patients are taking up beds
in our public hospitals as a result of lack of capacity in the aged-care
sector, which is primarily the responsibility of the commonwealth government.
That is also causing a problem. Up to about a week ago, I think an extra 60 patients
were adding to the problem. Clearly, as everyone understands, that makes it
more difficult for patients to be cleared out of emergency departments and put
into the wards in hospitals where they need to be admitted. That is essentially
the nature of the problem, or the cause of the problem. The reality is that we
have —
Mr
R.H. Cook : You said that you would solve it—that you'd
banned it.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Kwinana!
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : I do not believe I have ever said that.
Mr
R.H. Cook : You represent the government, remember?
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : I think most people accept that it is probably impossible to
absolutely prevent ambulances waiting in all cases. However, our aim is to
minimise it, and I have asked all the health services to give particular
attention to this issue and to try to use their resources in the best possible
way to try to ensure that the amount of ambulance ramping is minimised.
We have an outstanding public
hospital system in this state. There has been $7 billion invested in the
rebuilding of the public hospital system right across the state—across
the metropolitan area and across regional parts of Western Australia—since
we have been in government. We have outstanding facilities, we have an
outstanding commitment of world-class staff, and people like using our public
hospital system. That has been demonstrated more and more all the time. That
puts pressure on the system and it is something of a dilemma. The better we
make it, the more people want to use it, and that has been demonstrated, in
part, through emergency departments.
(1)–(2) The
level of ramping, as it is termed, in relation to ambulances and emergency
department treatment at our public hospitals is a sign of the ever-increasing
pressure on the public hospital system in this state, in common with what
occurs in other states of Australia and, no doubt, across the western world.
The issues that cause that have been well referred to, including population
growth, an ageing population and, particularly at this time of the year, a high
incidence of flu. That has been the case in the last couple of weeks. It is
also the case that an increased number of aged-care patients are taking up beds
in our public hospitals as a result of lack of capacity in the aged-care
sector, which is primarily the responsibility of the commonwealth government.
That is also causing a problem. Up to about a week ago, I think an extra 60 patients
were adding to the problem. Clearly, as everyone understands, that makes it
more difficult for patients to be cleared out of emergency departments and put
into the wards in hospitals where they need to be admitted. That is essentially
the nature of the problem, or the cause of the problem. The reality is that we
have —
Mr
R.H. Cook : You said that you would solve it—that you'd
banned it.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Kwinana!
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : I do not believe I have ever said that.
Mr
R.H. Cook : You represent the government, remember?
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : I think most people accept that it is probably impossible to
absolutely prevent ambulances waiting in all cases. However, our aim is to
minimise it, and I have asked all the health services to give particular
attention to this issue and to try to use their resources in the best possible
way to try to ensure that the amount of ambulance ramping is minimised.
We have an outstanding public
hospital system in this state. There has been $7 billion invested in the
rebuilding of the public hospital system right across the state—across
the metropolitan area and across regional parts of Western Australia—since
we have been in government. We have outstanding facilities, we have an
outstanding commitment of world-class staff, and people like using our public
hospital system. That has been demonstrated more and more all the time. That
puts pressure on the system and it is something of a dilemma. The better we
make it, the more people want to use it, and that has been demonstrated, in
part, through emergency departments.
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