Ramping ‘plague’ goes on

AMBULANCE ramping is continuing to plague overstretched hospitals across the state with some facilities recording a staggering 12 per cent increase in a year.

New Queensland Health data for December 2018 has revealed an alarming number of patients who weren’t moved from ambulance stretchers within the 30 minute target.

At Robina Hospital, 35 per cent of patients were forced to wait for a bed – up 10 per cent compared to December 2017.

Ramping was the worst at Logan Hospital, with 40 per cent of patients having to queue for a bed in December last year.

This figure was unchanged since December 2017.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the Labor Government had broken its election promise to provide a better health system for Queenslanders.

“Our hard working nurses, doctors, paramedics and midwives need more help on the frontline to improve patient care,” she said. “Instead, our public hospitals are bursting at the seams and ambulance ramping is rife.”

Health Minister Steven Miles said more than 1.6 million patients visited an emergency department last financial year – an increase of 17,000 attendances compared to the year before.

“In December 2018, almost 175,000 people visited an emergency department,” he said. The 30 minute target includes parking at a hospital, the patient being moved to the triage area, triage by a specialised emergency nurse and transfer to a bed within the emergency department, before a full clinical handover between QAS and the ED team.