Arabic version: تكدّس مرضى الإسعاف في كوينزلاند يصل إلى 42 في المئة في أغسطس

According to ABC News, Queensland Health data for August shows 42 per cent of patients arriving by ambulance at the state’s 26 top public hospital emergency departments waited more than 30 minutes to be transferred off a stretcher into an ED.

The statewide rate was worse than July’s 38.7 per cent, a rise of 3.3 percentage points. It was only marginally below the 43.9 per cent recorded in August 2024, before the Crisafulli Government came to power. In August 2025, during Queensland’s worst flu season on record, the rate was 45.6 per cent.

The figures arrive near the halfway point of the Crisafulli Government’s first four-year term and follow a late flu season. Premier David Crisafulli had committed before the 2024 election to reduce ramping to below 30 per cent before the 2028 poll, and tied his cabinet’s future to reaching that target. Opposition leader Steven Miles said the figures were likely to worsen, pointing to hospital growth funding, workforce planning and new beds.

Hospitals in Metro South Health recorded some of the highest August rates. Logan Hospital reported 61.8 per cent, while more than half of ambulance patients at Princess Alexandra Hospital were ramped for over 30 minutes. Cairns recorded 45.6 per cent, Bundaberg 44.7 per cent and Rockhampton 39.1 per cent. Gold Coast University Hospital recorded 28.9 per cent, while Ipswich Hospital’s rate fell to 34.5 per cent after the Mater Springfield Hospital opened in May.

A spokeswoman for acting Health and Ambulance Services Minister Dale Last said the August 2026 result was the lowest August figure in five years. The data was released as Queensland public hospital emergency departments recorded 211,664 presentations in August, described as a record high.