Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-10-15 Daily Xml

Contents

Ambulance Ramping

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:32): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister confirm that ambulance ramping is now at record levels, and can the minister advise what the level of ramping was when the Marshall Liberal government took office 18 months ago?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:32): I am certainly happy to take on notice the honourable member's request for an update. There is no doubt that ramping is at an unacceptable level. That is why the government has rolled out a whole series of initiatives, whether it is the priority care centres, the reduction of the average lengths of stay, the care coordinators, or home hospitals. A lot of these are having a very positive impact on managing hospital demand. Yes, ambulance ramping is unacceptable. That is why we are driving it down with a whole range of initiatives, and one of the initiatives is making sure that our hospitals have surge capacity.