SAVAGE budget cuts are causing ambulances to spend more than 1000 hours a month stuck outside major western suburbs hospitals.
Ambulance Victoria figures show a sharp increase in “ramping” delays — the time from when an ambulance arrives at a hospital to when its patient is admitted.
At Sunshine Hospital, paramedics waited with patients on trolleys for 390 hours per month in the 12 months to June — up from 69 hours a month in 2009-10.
At Western Hospital, the delay was 563 hours a month, up from 307 — an 83 per cent increase. Werribee Mercy Hospital delays have also increased, by 55 per cent.
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Opposition parliamentary health secretary Wade Noonan said western suburbs hospitals were in gridlock. “Ambulance ramping is a symptom of a struggling health system because overworked hospitals don’t have the resources on hand to accept these patients,” Mr Noonan said.
Keilor Labor MP Natalie Hutchins called for the government to review its investment into the health system. “These ramping times are symptomatic of the cuts the government has made to health funding. An increasing number of north-west residents have been contacting my office, not only about ambulance waiting times but about waiting to get into the hospital once they arrive.”
A spokeswoman for Health Minister David Davis said the Health Department was working with health services and Ambulance Victoria to tackle increasing demand on services and minimise patient transfer times.
A Western Health spokeswoman said ramping was a matter for Ambulance Victoria.
Ambulance Victoria mobile intensive care group manager Graeme Parker said a number of initiatives were in place at hospitals to allow paramedics to respond to life-threatening emergencies.
“When required, managers will visit a hospital and work with its staff to make paramedics available as quickly as possible,” he said.
“We are also trialling options in our communications centre to reduce the time paramedics spend at hospitals. While our caseload continues to grow, we’re seeing an improvement in our ability to respond to the sickest patients in our community.”
