AMBULANCE RAMPING
245. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question. We
were seeing over 2 000 hours of ramping before COVID in 2019.
The SPEAKER: Order! Member,
you are starting with a statement; you need to ask a question.
Ms L. METTAM: Will the
minister rule out taking over ambulance services from St John?
Ms A.
SANDERSON replied:
This has absolutely nothing to do
with ramping. We work closely with St John Ambulance. I have a very close
family member employed by St John Ambulance as a paramedic. I am a full
supporter of St John Ambulance and paramedics. If the member wants to
understand where we are in comparison with other states and territories when
they were at their peak, during the Delta outbreak in New South Wales only 60 per
cent —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Order, please!
Ms A. SANDERSON: Only 60 per cent
of patients were attended to within a 10-minute target at a status 3 alert.
Last Tuesday, Victoria had to issue a code red and people who called 000 were
asked to make their own way to hospital. Victoria is not in its surge now. We
are in our surge now and our system is holding up. In Queensland, there are 500
hours of ramping a day. I can confirm to the house that we are currently
negotiating the St John Ambulance contract.