There are now an extra 146 ambos on our roads since the election of the Malinauskas Labor Government, and the additional resources are delivering lifesaving results, according to new analysis of ambulance response times.
12 new paramedics started at Elizabeth last week, along with 12 Emergency Support Services ambos who joined the Golden Grove response at the beginning of this month – adding another three ambulances to the service.
An analysis of ambulance response time data shows that in the first half of this year, paramedics are now regularly exceeding the target response time for life-threatening emergencies.
Under the former government, response times declined significantly, and well below benchmarks for the most urgent cases.
In January 2022, fewer than half of Priority 1 cases seen within the recommended 8 minute timeframe – significantly less than the 60 per cent target.
Priority 1 cases are seriously ill patients who need immediate help, including those who are not breathing, in cardiac arrest, or not responding.
In the same month, just 40.4 per cent of Priority 2 cases were seen within the recommended 16 minute timeframe.
In June this year, 67.5 per cent of Priority 1 cases were reached on within the eight-minute target, while 60 per cent Priority 2 cases were seen within the recommended 16 minute target.
The sustained improvements across the system are apparent in a comparison of six-monthly figures.
From January to June 2023, 65.7 per cent of Priority 1 cases were reached within the eight-minute target – well above the 60 per cent benchmark.
That’s a major improvement on the 54.1 per cent of Priority 1 cases reached on time in the first six months of last year.
Significant improvements are also being made in Priority 2 response times, with 59.3 per cent of Priority 2 cases seen within the recommended 16 minutes, compared to
42.7 per cent in the first six months of last year.
The improvements come amid the Malinauskas Labor Government’s record funding for the SA Ambulance Service, including an election commitment of 350 additional ambos to improve response times and help fix the ramping crisis.
The Government is delivering on its promises to build a new SA Ambulance Service headquarters, new ambulance stations at Norwood, Woodville, Golden Grove and Edwardstown along with upgrades or expansions to 14 other ambulance stations.
Last month’s State Budget committed an additional $2.3 billion in health initiatives to meet increased demand, ease pressure on hospitals and address ramping.
The plan Labor took to the election included delivery of over 550 beds, and more than 400 additional doctors and nurses.
By the end of next year, there will be more than 150 additional beds opened across the system, including at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lyell McEwin, Mount Barker, Flinders and Gawler hospitals, as well as the Repat.
As put by Premier Peter Malinauskas
We made big commitments to improve our health system for an important reason – too many South Australians were at risk of dying while waiting for an ambulance.
Ever since we were elected, we’ve been clearly focused on the important task in front of us – hiring the ambos, doctors, nurses and building the critical infrastructure needed to deliver real results.
And across the first half of this year, we’ve seen sustained improvement in response times, with the most critically urgent of cases now regularly meeting benchmarks.
These improvements directly relate to the recruitment of additional ambos for Norwood, Edwardstown, Gawler, Golden Grove, Mount Barker, and Elizabeth – suburbs which previously suffered a significant coverage gap.
But – we know we have so much more to do.
We are hard at work putting the long-term infrastructure, doctors, nurses and strategies in place in our hospital system to make sure patients can be treated as quickly as possible.
As put by Chris Picton
It is pleasing to see improvements in response times which mean that more ambos are getting to the most urgent patients on time, however we know more work is needed and we are investing in that.
The Liberals failed to invest in the ambulance service and left the system in crisis.
We on the other hand are listening to our ambos, adding more resources to the road and we are seeing the results in response times.
While there is still much more to be done, this data shows that our ambos are getting to their lights and sirens patients quicker than has been achieved in long time.
The additional crews deployed have made a huge difference in coverage across our inner-metropolitan suburbs, and peri-urban areas. We are eager to recruit the remaining 204 ambos from our commitment, so that we can continue to see improvements in response times.
As put by SAAS Chief Executive Officer Rob Elliott
I am incredibly proud of our staff throughout the organisation who have achieved this improvement; from recruitment teams, training teams, technical and support staff, emergency operations centre staff and of course our experienced clinical staff providing excellent clinical care.
As we have put on new resources, we have started to turn a corner and get to the high-priority cases that we need to, in the right time. This is having a positive flow on effect to our lower priority jobs, which should steadily continue as we continue with our massive recruitment drive.
