In the March Quarter of 2024, 45.5 per cent of Queensland patients spent more than 30 minutes waiting on the ramp before being taken into the hospital.
Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said that emergency department presentations were up by 5.7 per cent, which was a record demand and caused the increase.
“We could not have predicted the huge demand we have seen in the last few months, particularly January and February,” she said. “We were absolutely smashed with flooding, cyclones and a heatwave, as well as a surge in flu.”
Fentiman has been the health minister for a year.
In June 2023, when ambulance ramping was at 43 per cent, the minister exclusively told 9News her goal was to reduce the rate to 28 per cent.
Fentiman denied that the increased rate was a failure and said nobody could have predicted the demand that Queensland emergency departments had seen.
She said Queensland’s ramping performance was comparable with other states and more data would be released publicly tomorrow.
She also said the Queensland Ambulance Service was free for patients since it was paid for by the state government and claimed that they have some of the best response times in the country.
In a shocking revelation, ambulance ramping in Queensland has reached an all-time high, with 45.5% of patients waiting over 30 minutes on the ramp in the March Quarter of 2024. This surpasses the previous record of 45%. Health Minister Shannon Fentiman attributed this increase to a 5.7% rise in emergency department presentations, fueled by unprecedented demand due to various natural disasters and a flu surge.
Despite setting a goal to reduce ramping to 28% in June 2023, Fentiman defended the current situation, stating that the unexpected demand could not have been foreseen. She emphasized that Queensland’s ramping performance is on par with other states and reassured that more data would be released soon. Fentiman also highlighted the free service provided by the Queensland Ambulance Service, funded by the state government, boasting of their exceptional response times.\
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