Ambulance Ramping

In reply to the Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) ().13 June 2023).

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector): The Minister for Health and Wellbeing has advised:

The Liberals left the health system in disarray and now spend their time questioning the hard work we are doing to turn the system around.

Their inaction—or blatant neglect of the health system—resulted in ramping increasing 485 per cent during the Liberal's term in government.

The Liberals had no plan or policies to address ramping and hospital system capacity.

Instead, the Malinauskas Labor government's number one priority is addressing the ramping crisis we inherited, and we are delivering a generational investment to rebuild the health system.

We are investing a record amount to open more beds, recruit hundreds more doctors, nurses and ambos, build and upgrade key health infrastructure, and deliver more services to provide the capacity our healthcare system needs.

We are now seeing improvements in ambulance response times. In May, paramedics reached 68.2 per cent of urgent priority 1 cases within the recommended eight minutes—well above the 60 per cent target. That compares to just 47 per cent in January 2022.

For priority 2 cases, paramedics reached 59.1 per cent of patients within the recommended 16 minutes. That's compared to just 36 per cent in January 2022.