[Greens-Media] Ambulance waiting time crisis about to get a whole lot worse: Greens

[John Kaye]

Ambulance waiting time crisis about to get a whole lot worse: Greens

Media Release: 24 July 2013

While today's Auditor-General's Performance Audit reveals that ambulance waiting times are deteriorating, Greens NSW MP John Kaye warned that the problem will get much worse as hospitals struggle under the O'Farrell government's inadequate health budget.

(NSW Auditor-General's Performance Audit 'Reducing ambulance turnaround time at hospitals' 24 July 2013 http://j.mp/13bEK9C)

Dr Kaye said: "Trolley block is an inevitable consequence of hospitals that don't have enough vacant beds to meet demand. This is primarily a budget problem and one that has become much worse under the O'Farrell government's cuts.

"Patients are spending even more time on trolleys waiting outside hospitals like the Prince of Wales that are closing down wards in response to budget cuts.

"Reducing the number of beds will put even greater pressure on emergency departments. Patients arriving by ambulance are at the end of a chain of resource constraints that begins with the O'Farrell government's budget cuts.

"The O'Farrell government's failure to provide funding for the beds needed to meet the demand of a growing and aging population is playing out in escalating ambulance waiting times. Emergency patients are suffering as staff are stretched to their limit trying to get them out of the ambulance and into a suitable space in the hospital.

"While better management of existing hospital beds and temporary strategies like holding patients in waiting rooms might ease transfer times in the short term, Health Minister Jillian Skinner has to face the harsh reality that trolley block will only get worse without more hospital resources.

"Patients, often in extreme pain or at risk of deteriorating, are being held on trolleys because the O'Farrell government and their Labor predecessors have failed to ensure there are enough in-patient beds and staff to service them.

"Better discharge planning will help solve some of the ambulance waiting time problems but there is a real risk that cash-strapped hospitals will be forced to push patients out the door before they are ready to cope on their own. Trolley block cannot be solved in isolation nor will it get better without a substantial increase in hospital funding," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455