Patients pay the price as ambulance ramping hits record high in Albany

Ambulance ramping at Albany Health Campus has reached a historic high, with ambulances spending more time waiting outside the hospital so far this financial year than in the previous five years combined. Ramping rose to 19 hours in May alone — more than double the previous worst monthly figure in March — sparking calls for urgent action from the State Opposition and the Australian Medical Association WA. In WA, hospitals aim to take in patients within 30 minutes of their ambulance arriving at the emergency department. Any waiting time after that is referred to as ambulance ramping. The Albany hospital’s previous ramping figures for May were one hour in 2016, one hour in 2017, zero hours in 2018, zero hours in 2019, and three hours in 2020. Shadow health minister Libby Mettam said Albany’s figures revealed a systemic crisis across WA’s regional hospitals. “Albany is a particular concern given that we have seen such a spike in recent times,” she said. “It does really raise questions about the level of investment in regional hospitals such as Albany. Unfortunately, it’s the patients in the back of those ambulances that are paying the price as they wait hours on end, often in serious pain, for our overstretched hospitals to be able to admit them. “It also means our often limited country ambulance services are required to wait with them, meaning they can’t respond to other emergencies in the area. “No matter how the McGowan Government tries to spin this, for our regional hospitals to now be reporting these huge spikes in ambulance ramping is irrefutable evidence that our health system is clearly in crisis.” AMA WA president Dr Andrew Miller expected Albany’s ramping figures to continue rising. “It’s the same reason it is happening everywhere, which is that the facilities are not big enough to deal with the load on them and the Government has not increased funds for staffing and for facilities to keep up with predicted demand,” he said. “It’s like a warning light on the dashboard, it tells you that the facilities need upgrading ... and if they don’t increase that capacity then it is going to break.” Dr Miller said regional figures reflected the crisis in Perth hospitals and required similar solutions — more staff to look after patients and increased hospital capacity to relieve the pressure on EDs. “I don’t have any confidence that the board of the West Australian Country Health Service are going to be advocating to the Government to give them these resources,” he said. “So it is going to be up to the citizens of Albany to get active, contact the local member and say ‘hey, if we turn up to our emergency department, we don’t expect to be waiting in a truck on the road’.” A WACHS spokeswoman said Albany Health Campus “consistently performs well” in emergency access times when compared to like-hospitals. “While Albany Health Campus is experiencing high demand, the facility regularly monitors activity to ensure patient flow is optimised and staff levels are appropriate,” she said. “It’s important to note that all hospitals have surge plans in place to ensure they’re able to respond to need, and WACHS acknowledges the incredible work of the staff at AHC in ensuring the health and wellbeing of the community is maintained throughout busy periods.” Health Minister Roger Cook was contacted for comment. In a statement in The West Australian on Monday, Mr Cook said comparing ramping figures to the past was flawed because “the world was a very different place then”. “Our hospitals have faced unprecedented demand in the past six months,” he told The West Australian. “What the Opposition fails to understand is this unprecedented demand is affecting every health system in Australia. “WA is not an orphan. Every State is dealing with this issue. “When I talk to the other health ministers around Australia, they all say the same thing. “That is why increased hospital demand has been put on the agenda at National Cabinet this week for the first time.”