Minister to blame for WA ambulance ramping increases: Opposition

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The State Opposition has blamed Health Minister Kim Hames for what they say is a dramatic rise in ambulance ramping in Perth’s south.

Figures released by the Opposition indicate there has been a 693 per cent increase in ramping at Rockingham hospital compared to the same period last year.

At Joondalup Health Campus ramping has increased 23 per cent this year to date, compared with the same period last year.

Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said the Health Minister must take responsibility for the problem, which sees ambulances forced to wait outside hospitals to unload their patients.

“What could be more important than getting people out of ambulances, into hospitals,” Mr McGowan said.

“What could be more important? Yet it’s not happening.”

Opposition Health spokesman Roger Cook said the new Fiona Stanley Hospital was supposed to take pressure off the health system.

But with the deluge of patients flooding into the hospital, he said that pressure is now being push back onto other hospitals, particularly in the southern metropolitan area.

“Because of the problems we’re experiencing here at Fiona Stanley emergency department, they’re diverting patients to those southern hospitals hoping that they’ll take some of the pressure off,” Mr Cook said.

“But as we’ve seen they’ve simply transferred those problems to those hospitals in the outer areas.”

Mr McGowan said the Health Minister had failed to address the problem.

“He said Fiona Stanley Hospital would fix that but he is clearly not focusing on the task at the hand … and today we learn of this huge increase in ambulance ramping at some West Australian hospitals,” he said.

Health Minister Kim Hames is expected to respond to the comments later today.