❓ The Minister for Health provides an update on St John Ambulance's response times to priority 1 and 3 calls, highlighting improvements and increased government funding, as well as improvements in hospital emergency departments.
AnsweredQoN 562Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ST JOHN AMBULANCE - PRIORITY 1 EMERGENCY CALLS
Can the minister please update the house on the performance of St John Ambulance in responding to priority 1 emergency calls? Mr J.A. McGINTY
Can the minister please update the house on the performance of St John Ambulance in responding to priority 1 emergency calls? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am sure that this matter will be of great interest to all members of the house, because the time that it takes for an ambulance to get to an emergency patient is critical to the outcome of the treatment of acute illness or injury. The state government’s contract with St John Ambulance requires rapid response to emergencies in the metropolitan area, with an average response time for priority 1 calls of less than 10 minutes. This is a key indicator of that performance. In the past financial year, 2005-06, there were 33 076 priority 1 calls to the St John Ambulance service. The average response time for those calls was just 9.85 minutes. This is an improvement on the previous year, when the average response time for priority 1 calls was 9.94 minutes. That is getting dangerously close to the ceiling. At the other end of the scale, the average response time for non-emergency priority 3 calls has also come down. Non-emergency calls should be responded to within an average of 40 minutes. In 2005-06 the average response time for priority 3 calls was 33.81 minutes, compared with 35.46 minutes the previous year. Both those indicators are heading in the right direction. That means that patients who need ambulances are being well catered for. It is no accident that that is the case. In the last year of the five-year contract with St John Ambulance that terminated in 2003-04, St John Ambulance was paid $13.7 million by the state government to provide the ambulance service. As all members will be aware, at that time there was pressure on the ambulance service to meet those response times. I am pleased to say that this year the total payment from the state government to St John Ambulance is $34.3 million. That is an increase from $13.7 million in the last years of the old contract. There are two components to this payment. One is a payment of $14 million a year to provide concession transport to pensioners who require ambulances. That was a commitment that we made at the last state election. Most importantly, the base contract with St John Ambulance has increased from $13.7 million to $20.3 million. That is the largest injection of funds that St John Ambulance has ever enjoyed in its history and something that it happily acknowledges. That extra funding has enabled St John Ambulance to acquire 30 new ambulances and to employ an additional 100 ambulance officers and communications staff. That is a tremendous boost to emergency services in this state. I extend my congratulations to St John Ambulance for a job well done. I also extend my congratulations to the tremendous staff who work in the emergency departments in our hospitals. We are coming to the end of winter. During the past six weeks not one single ambulance has been diverted from any hospital in the metropolitan area. That is a remarkable achievement. The very dedicated doctors and nurses in the emergency departments in our hospitals sat down and figured out a system that they endorsed and are now implementing, and it is working brilliantly. That is why we have not experienced the crises that are usually predicted to occur in our hospitals during the winter period. I thank them for that.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am sure that this matter will be of great interest to all members of the house, because the time that it takes for an ambulance to get to an emergency patient is critical to the outcome of the treatment of acute illness or injury. The state government’s contract with St John Ambulance requires rapid response to emergencies in the metropolitan area, with an average response time for priority 1 calls of less than 10 minutes. This is a key indicator of that performance. In the past financial year, 2005-06, there were 33 076 priority 1 calls to the St John Ambulance service. The average response time for those calls was just 9.85 minutes. This is an improvement on the previous year, when the average response time for priority 1 calls was 9.94 minutes. That is getting dangerously close to the ceiling. At the other end of the scale, the average response time for non-emergency priority 3 calls has also come down. Non-emergency calls should be responded to within an average of 40 minutes. In 2005-06 the average response time for priority 3 calls was 33.81 minutes, compared with 35.46 minutes the previous year. Both those indicators are heading in the right direction. That means that patients who need ambulances are being well catered for. It is no accident that that is the case. In the last year of the five-year contract with St John Ambulance that terminated in 2003-04, St John Ambulance was paid $13.7 million by the state government to provide the ambulance service. As all members will be aware, at that time there was pressure on the ambulance service to meet those response times. I am pleased to say that this year the total payment from the state government to St John Ambulance is $34.3 million. That is an increase from $13.7 million in the last years of the old contract. There are two components to this payment. One is a payment of $14 million a year to provide concession transport to pensioners who require ambulances. That was a commitment that we made at the last state election. Most importantly, the base contract with St John Ambulance has increased from $13.7 million to $20.3 million. That is the largest injection of funds that St John Ambulance has ever enjoyed in its history and something that it happily acknowledges. That extra funding has enabled St John Ambulance to acquire 30 new ambulances and to employ an additional 100 ambulance officers and communications staff. That is a tremendous boost to emergency services in this state. I extend my congratulations to St John Ambulance for a job well done. I also extend my congratulations to the tremendous staff who work in the emergency departments in our hospitals. We are coming to the end of winter. During the past six weeks not one single ambulance has been diverted from any hospital in the metropolitan area. That is a remarkable achievement. The very dedicated doctors and nurses in the emergency departments in our hospitals sat down and figured out a system that they endorsed and are now implementing, and it is working brilliantly. That is why we have not experienced the crises that are usually predicted to occur in our hospitals during the winter period. I thank them for that.
I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am sure that this matter will be of great interest to all members of the house, because the time that it takes for an ambulance to get to an emergency patient is critical to the outcome of the treatment of acute illness or injury. The state government’s contract with St John Ambulance requires rapid response to emergencies in the metropolitan area, with an average response time for priority 1 calls of less than 10 minutes. This is a key indicator of that performance. In the past financial year, 2005-06, there were 33 076 priority 1 calls to the St John Ambulance service. The average response time for those calls was just 9.85 minutes. This is an improvement on the previous year, when the average response time for priority 1 calls was 9.94 minutes. That is getting dangerously close to the ceiling. At the other end of the scale, the average response time for non-emergency priority 3 calls has also come down. Non-emergency calls should be responded to within an average of 40 minutes. In 2005-06 the average response time for priority 3 calls was 33.81 minutes, compared with 35.46 minutes the previous year. Both those indicators are heading in the right direction. That means that patients who need ambulances are being well catered for. It is no accident that that is the case. In the last year of the five-year contract with St John Ambulance that terminated in 2003-04, St John Ambulance was paid $13.7 million by the state government to provide the ambulance service. As all members will be aware, at that time there was pressure on the ambulance service to meet those response times. I am pleased to say that this year the total payment from the state government to St John Ambulance is $34.3 million. That is an increase from $13.7 million in the last years of the old contract. There are two components to this payment. One is a payment of $14 million a year to provide concession transport to pensioners who require ambulances. That was a commitment that we made at the last state election. Most importantly, the base contract with St John Ambulance has increased from $13.7 million to $20.3 million. That is the largest injection of funds that St John Ambulance has ever enjoyed in its history and something that it happily acknowledges. That extra funding has enabled St John Ambulance to acquire 30 new ambulances and to employ an additional 100 ambulance officers and communications staff. That is a tremendous boost to emergency services in this state. I extend my congratulations to St John Ambulance for a job well done. I also extend my congratulations to the tremendous staff who work in the emergency departments in our hospitals. We are coming to the end of winter. During the past six weeks not one single ambulance has been diverted from any hospital in the metropolitan area. That is a remarkable achievement. The very dedicated doctors and nurses in the emergency departments in our hospitals sat down and figured out a system that they endorsed and are now implementing, and it is working brilliantly. That is why we have not experienced the crises that are usually predicted to occur in our hospitals during the winter period. I thank them for that.
At the other end of the scale, the average response time for non-emergency priority 3 calls has also come down. Non-emergency calls should be responded to within an average of 40 minutes. In 2005-06 the average response time for priority 3 calls was 33.81 minutes, compared with 35.46 minutes the previous year. Both those indicators are heading in the right direction. That means that patients who need ambulances are being well catered for. It is no accident that that is the case. In the last year of the five-year contract with St John Ambulance that terminated in 2003-04, St John Ambulance was paid $13.7 million by the state government to provide the ambulance service. As all members will be aware, at that time there was pressure on the ambulance service to meet those response times. I am pleased to say that this year the total payment from the state government to St John Ambulance is $34.3 million. That is an increase from $13.7 million in the last years of the old contract. There are two components to this payment. One is a payment of $14 million a year to provide concession transport to pensioners who require ambulances. That was a commitment that we made at the last state election. Most importantly, the base contract with St John Ambulance has increased from $13.7 million to $20.3 million. That is the largest injection of funds that St John Ambulance has ever enjoyed in its history and something that it happily acknowledges. That extra funding has enabled St John Ambulance to acquire 30 new ambulances and to employ an additional 100 ambulance officers and communications staff. That is a tremendous boost to emergency services in this state. I extend my congratulations to St John Ambulance for a job well done. I also extend my congratulations to the tremendous staff who work in the emergency departments in our hospitals. We are coming to the end of winter. During the past six weeks not one single ambulance has been diverted from any hospital in the metropolitan area. That is a remarkable achievement. The very dedicated doctors and nurses in the emergency departments in our hospitals sat down and figured out a system that they endorsed and are now implementing, and it is working brilliantly. That is why we have not experienced the crises that are usually predicted to occur in our hospitals during the winter period. I thank them for that.
I extend my congratulations to St John Ambulance for a job well done. I also extend my congratulations to the tremendous staff who work in the emergency departments in our hospitals. We are coming to the end of winter. During the past six weeks not one single ambulance has been diverted from any hospital in the metropolitan area. That is a remarkable achievement. The very dedicated doctors and nurses in the emergency departments in our hospitals sat down and figured out a system that they endorsed and are now implementing, and it is working brilliantly. That is why we have not experienced the crises that are usually predicted to occur in our hospitals during the winter period. I thank them for that.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am sure that this matter will be of great interest to all members of the house, because the time that it takes for an ambulance to get to an emergency patient is critical to the outcome of the treatment of acute illness or injury. The state government’s contract with St John Ambulance requires rapid response to emergencies in the metropolitan area, with an average response time for priority 1 calls of less than 10 minutes. This is a key indicator of that performance. In the past financial year, 2005-06, there were 33 076 priority 1 calls to the St John Ambulance service. The average response time for those calls was just 9.85 minutes. This is an improvement on the previous year, when the average response time for priority 1 calls was 9.94 minutes. That is getting dangerously close to the ceiling. At the other end of the scale, the average response time for non-emergency priority 3 calls has also come down. Non-emergency calls should be responded to within an average of 40 minutes. In 2005-06 the average response time for priority 3 calls was 33.81 minutes, compared with 35.46 minutes the previous year. Both those indicators are heading in the right direction. That means that patients who need ambulances are being well catered for. It is no accident that that is the case. In the last year of the five-year contract with St John Ambulance that terminated in 2003-04, St John Ambulance was paid $13.7 million by the state government to provide the ambulance service. As all members will be aware, at that time there was pressure on the ambulance service to meet those response times. I am pleased to say that this year the total payment from the state government to St John Ambulance is $34.3 million. That is an increase from $13.7 million in the last years of the old contract. There are two components to this payment. One is a payment of $14 million a year to provide concession transport to pensioners who require ambulances. That was a commitment that we made at the last state election. Most importantly, the base contract with St John Ambulance has increased from $13.7 million to $20.3 million. That is the largest injection of funds that St John Ambulance has ever enjoyed in its history and something that it happily acknowledges. That extra funding has enabled St John Ambulance to acquire 30 new ambulances and to employ an additional 100 ambulance officers and communications staff. That is a tremendous boost to emergency services in this state. I extend my congratulations to St John Ambulance for a job well done. I also extend my congratulations to the tremendous staff who work in the emergency departments in our hospitals. We are coming to the end of winter. During the past six weeks not one single ambulance has been diverted from any hospital in the metropolitan area. That is a remarkable achievement. The very dedicated doctors and nurses in the emergency departments in our hospitals sat down and figured out a system that they endorsed and are now implementing, and it is working brilliantly. That is why we have not experienced the crises that are usually predicted to occur in our hospitals during the winter period. I thank them for that.
I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am sure that this matter will be of great interest to all members of the house, because the time that it takes for an ambulance to get to an emergency patient is critical to the outcome of the treatment of acute illness or injury. The state government’s contract with St John Ambulance requires rapid response to emergencies in the metropolitan area, with an average response time for priority 1 calls of less than 10 minutes. This is a key indicator of that performance. In the past financial year, 2005-06, there were 33 076 priority 1 calls to the St John Ambulance service. The average response time for those calls was just 9.85 minutes. This is an improvement on the previous year, when the average response time for priority 1 calls was 9.94 minutes. That is getting dangerously close to the ceiling. At the other end of the scale, the average response time for non-emergency priority 3 calls has also come down. Non-emergency calls should be responded to within an average of 40 minutes. In 2005-06 the average response time for priority 3 calls was 33.81 minutes, compared with 35.46 minutes the previous year. Both those indicators are heading in the right direction. That means that patients who need ambulances are being well catered for. It is no accident that that is the case. In the last year of the five-year contract with St John Ambulance that terminated in 2003-04, St John Ambulance was paid $13.7 million by the state government to provide the ambulance service. As all members will be aware, at that time there was pressure on the ambulance service to meet those response times. I am pleased to say that this year the total payment from the state government to St John Ambulance is $34.3 million. That is an increase from $13.7 million in the last years of the old contract. There are two components to this payment. One is a payment of $14 million a year to provide concession transport to pensioners who require ambulances. That was a commitment that we made at the last state election. Most importantly, the base contract with St John Ambulance has increased from $13.7 million to $20.3 million. That is the largest injection of funds that St John Ambulance has ever enjoyed in its history and something that it happily acknowledges. That extra funding has enabled St John Ambulance to acquire 30 new ambulances and to employ an additional 100 ambulance officers and communications staff. That is a tremendous boost to emergency services in this state. I extend my congratulations to St John Ambulance for a job well done. I also extend my congratulations to the tremendous staff who work in the emergency departments in our hospitals. We are coming to the end of winter. During the past six weeks not one single ambulance has been diverted from any hospital in the metropolitan area. That is a remarkable achievement. The very dedicated doctors and nurses in the emergency departments in our hospitals sat down and figured out a system that they endorsed and are now implementing, and it is working brilliantly. That is why we have not experienced the crises that are usually predicted to occur in our hospitals during the winter period. I thank them for that.
At the other end of the scale, the average response time for non-emergency priority 3 calls has also come down. Non-emergency calls should be responded to within an average of 40 minutes. In 2005-06 the average response time for priority 3 calls was 33.81 minutes, compared with 35.46 minutes the previous year. Both those indicators are heading in the right direction. That means that patients who need ambulances are being well catered for. It is no accident that that is the case. In the last year of the five-year contract with St John Ambulance that terminated in 2003-04, St John Ambulance was paid $13.7 million by the state government to provide the ambulance service. As all members will be aware, at that time there was pressure on the ambulance service to meet those response times. I am pleased to say that this year the total payment from the state government to St John Ambulance is $34.3 million. That is an increase from $13.7 million in the last years of the old contract. There are two components to this payment. One is a payment of $14 million a year to provide concession transport to pensioners who require ambulances. That was a commitment that we made at the last state election. Most importantly, the base contract with St John Ambulance has increased from $13.7 million to $20.3 million. That is the largest injection of funds that St John Ambulance has ever enjoyed in its history and something that it happily acknowledges. That extra funding has enabled St John Ambulance to acquire 30 new ambulances and to employ an additional 100 ambulance officers and communications staff. That is a tremendous boost to emergency services in this state. I extend my congratulations to St John Ambulance for a job well done. I also extend my congratulations to the tremendous staff who work in the emergency departments in our hospitals. We are coming to the end of winter. During the past six weeks not one single ambulance has been diverted from any hospital in the metropolitan area. That is a remarkable achievement. The very dedicated doctors and nurses in the emergency departments in our hospitals sat down and figured out a system that they endorsed and are now implementing, and it is working brilliantly. That is why we have not experienced the crises that are usually predicted to occur in our hospitals during the winter period. I thank them for that.
I extend my congratulations to St John Ambulance for a job well done. I also extend my congratulations to the tremendous staff who work in the emergency departments in our hospitals. We are coming to the end of winter. During the past six weeks not one single ambulance has been diverted from any hospital in the metropolitan area. That is a remarkable achievement. The very dedicated doctors and nurses in the emergency departments in our hospitals sat down and figured out a system that they endorsed and are now implementing, and it is working brilliantly. That is why we have not experienced the crises that are usually predicted to occur in our hospitals during the winter period. I thank them for that.
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