The latest Bureau of Health Information Quarterly data shows that patients are continuing to suffer due to ongoing ramping. Paramedics say they fear the worst is yet to come.
The latest numbers from the Bureau of Health Information’s Healthcare Quarterly Report showed bed block continuing to worsen in January-March 2023, revealing that more than one in five patients is waiting too long to be transferred into hospital care. One in ten patients in urban areas are waiting longer than 1 hour to be transferred.
APA (NSW) President Chris Kastelan said “These sobering numbers once again highlight that we desperately need action on the recommendations that came from the Inquiry into Ramping.”
“We’re about to head into flu season, where we see our system even further overloaded every year. We are really concerned for our patients and for ourselves. Standing outside a hospital in a car park in the middle of winter for 5, 6 hours gets very cold. When it rains, some hospitals don’t even have adequate shelter for us or our patients.”
The NSW Legislative Council’s Ramping Inquiry report was released in December 2022, and exposed glaring issues with the emergency healthcare system. The report provided twelve recommendations to address the issue of bed block, including the abolishment of the wages cap, more Paramedic specialists, and the relatively simple change of implementing mobile work trailers so Paramedics can have a safe space out of the elements when stuck in bed block.
“The Minns Government was elected with the promise of supporting health workers, but has failed to implement even one of the recommendations,” continued Mr Kastelan.
