Ambulance response times have returned to pre-COVID levels and on some measures are exceeding them, according to Bureau of Health Information data released today.
The statistics compare July-September, 2020 to July-September 2019 and find:
- The median response time for P1A emergencies (lights and sirens emergency for a patient who can’t breathe) increased from 7.4 minutes to 8.2 minutes (increase of 0.8 minutes).
- The percentage of P1A responses within 10 minutes declined from 72.6% to 67.2% (a decrease of 5.4%).
Critically, this slower response time came despite an overall decline in P1 jobs from 146,724 to 135,034.
HSU NSW Secretary, Gerard Hayes, said the data was further evidence of the need to boost paramedic numbers.
“It’s deeply distressing to see a slower response time for the most life threatening emergencies where lives are in the balance because a patient has stopped breathing,” Mr Hayes said..
“The number of paramedics serving our State simply hasn’t kept up with population growth.
“Especially in boom areas like Sydney’s south west, our members report ever more difficult conditions. Traffic is clogged, hospitals are banked up and the strains on the aged care system are also making life difficult.
“Whichever way you cut it, the bare truth is we have too few paramedics.
“We congratulated the Premier when she employed an extra 700 paramedics. But that was three years ago and the system is again creaking to a halt.
“Employing more paramedics and allowing them to bargain for wages that properly reflect the complexity of their work is the only solution.
“The public deserve an Ambulance Service that is robust enough to deal with the growing demands of this State.”
Gerard Hayes
