Opposition MP Mettam questions the effectiveness of the government's health reforms in addressing ambulance ramping, citing increased ramping times compared to the previous government. The Minister defends the reforms, attributing the issues to increased demand and complexity of patient needs, while claiming improved ambulance response times.

AnsweredQoN 577Legislative Assembly
Asked
11 September 2024
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

HEALTH — AMBULANCE RAMPING
577. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question.
How can the minister say the reforms are working when we are seeing ramping
about five times what we saw under the previous government?

AnswerView source ↗

We know that the reforms are working
because we have record demand on our health system. Our older adult
presentations make up about 75 per cent of walk-ins in emergency departments.
We know that older adults are requiring more care and staying in hospital for
longer, so the care is increased. It is more complex. It is requiring more
specialties and more days in hospital, yet under that we are seeing a consistent
trending down of those figures. On top of that, ambulance response times have
consistently improved. That is the indication, member, when you look at the
data.
Ms L. Mettam : No, they haven't.
Ms A. SANDERSON : Yes, they
have. St John Ambulance response times have consistently improved under the new
contract. That is telling us that ambulances are available to pick up patients
when they need an ambulance.

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