The NSW Parliament has established an independent inquiry into the impact that ambulance ramping and access block is having on the operation of hospital emergency departments and patient care in New South Wales.
Ambulance ramping is a situation where ambulances are lined-up outside emergency departments and are unable to enter the hospital safely due to the large number of patients awaiting treatment and/or the lack of available beds in the hospital.
The inquiry’s Terms of Reference include (but are not limited to):
The causes of ambulance ramping, access block and emergency department delays;
The effects that ambulance ramping and access block has on the ability and capacity of emergency departments to perform their function;
The impact that access to GPs and primary health care services has on emergency department presentations and delays; and
How ambulance ramping and access block impacts on patients, paramedics, emergency department and other hospital staff.
We know the situation in our hospitals right now is challenging.
21.4 per cent of patients waited more than 30 minutes in the back of an ambulance – the highest since the Bureau of Health Information began reporting this measure in 2013. Of these, 10 per cent waited longer than 54 minutes – up from 32 minutes in 2019.
An all-time high of 42.9 per cent of the most critical emergency department patients did not have their treatment start on time – the highest percentage since reporting began in 2010.
55,305 patients (or 1 in every 13) left the ED without, or before completing, treatment – more than any quarter since 2010.
Hearings are planned to begin in early October with a final report being tabled before the end of the year.
Stakeholders are invited to make a submission to the inquiry by Sunday, 11th September 2022, with the committee expected to hear from paramedics, emergency department doctors and nurses, specialists in emergency medicine and frontline health workers from western Sydney.
The committee will be chaired by the Hon Greg Donnelly MLC.
Labor frontbencher Walt Secord will also represent Labor on the committee.
Previously, Mr Donnelly and Mr Secord served on the parliamentary inquiry into the state of rural, regional and remote health in NSW.”
Further information about the inquiry including the Terms of Reference, can be found on the committee’s website.
NSW Shadow Minister for Health Ryan Park said:
“Ambulance ramping is getting worse under the NSW Liberals.
“Emergency department wait times are at record highs.
“Tragically, we are seeing more people reaching despair leaving the emergency department without getting treatment.
“The Liberal Government has failed to adequately invest in our state’s hospitals and as a result we now have a situation where people are forced to wait in the back of an ambulance for long periods of time or worse, not get treated at all because of long delays.
“This inquiry will seek evidence from health professionals and front line workers to understand the impact it’s having on the hospital system and how we can look to address this”, Mr Park said.
Greg Donnelly, Chair of the Health Committee:
“This inquiry will examine the causes of ambulance ramping, access block and emergency department delays. It will also consider the effects these issues have on patients, paramedics, emergency department and other hospital staff.”
RYAN PARK MP
NSW SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH
