Up to 13 ambulances were “ramped” at St Vincent’s Hospital with up to six hospitals placed on emergency bypass – too full to take more patients – in Melbourne on Tuesday.
In an arc that stemmed from St Vincent’s and the Royal Melbourne hospitals, facilities on bypass stretched through the north-western suburbs to the Western Hospitals at Sunshine and at Footscray, and through to the Northern Hospital. Later in the day, The Austin Hospital was also on bypass.
Steve McGhie, secretary of Ambulance Employees Australia, said hospitals remained on bypass for two hours on Tuesday with ambulances sometimes waiting outside hospitals or driving around to find a hospital that could take their patient.
“Effectively what happens is you have ambulance crews shuffling around to try and find a hospital that will receive their patients,” Mr McGhie told the ABC.