AMBULANCE RAMPING —
REGIONAL AMBULANCE SERVICES
749. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the impact of ambulance
ramping on volunteer and regional ambulance services and the recent release of
the Auditor General's third report that found —
The DoH and SJA do not have an agreed
plan or strategy to reduce ramping
(1) From 1 January 2019 until present, how many hours a
month have ambulances been ramped at Geraldton Health Campus?
(2) Have St John
Ambulance Western Australia or the WA Country Health Service communicated to
the minister concerns in relation to the impact of volunteer ambulances being
ramped at public hospitals and the impact on local ambulance response?
(3) Have
arrangements been made to fast-track the release of volunteer ambulances from
public hospitals to facilitate their timely return to their response districts?
(4) If no to (3), will the minister consider
prioritising the release of volunteer ambulances from public hospitals?
Hon
ALANNA CLOHESY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) Ramping data
for regional areas is not provided by St John Ambulance Western Australia to
the Department of Health.
(2) St John
Ambulance has not raised concerns with the Department of Health relating to
volunteer ambulances being ramped at public hospitals. In addition, the WA
Country Health Service has not communicated concerns relating to the impact of
volunteer ambulances being ramped at public hospitals.
(3) Regional WACHS
facilities work with local SJA management on strategies and escalation pathways
to ensure the fast-track of ambulances back to their response district.
(4) Not
applicable.