Ambulance Ramping

In reply to the Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) ().14 November 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:

Our government inherited a health system has been under significant pressure, driven by a lack of investment in beds, staff and services under the former Liberal government.

Reducing ramping remains our number one priority and we are delivering a generational investment to rebuild the health system and reverse the years of neglect under the previous government.

We know the cause of ramping is bed block and hospital overcrowding. This is why we have committed to open more than 550 additional beds, recruit more doctors and nurses and ambos and build and upgrade key infrastructure across the state to provide the capacity our healthcare system needs.

There is no immediate fix to ramping and investments will take time to deliver, but we are working now to meet this challenge head on. We are opening over 150 more beds in 2024, increasing initiatives like the Virtual Care Service to reduce bed block and improve patient flow, and we are working directly with our doctors and nurses to develop clinically led solutions to tackle the ramping crisis.