- New hub to improve non-emergency patient transport in metropolitan WA
- Patient Transport Coordination Hub being progressively rolled out at hospitals
- PaTCH will coordinate the transport of more than 20,000 non-urgent patients every year
- Part of the Cook Government’s $487 million investment in improving access to emergency care
- Latest figures show ramping hours reduced across the State by 21 per cent in 2023, compared to 2022, with a 44 per cent reduction in December 2023, compared to December 2022
A new Patient Transport Coordination Hub (PaTCH) is being introduced in Western Australia to improve planned transfers between hospitals as part of the Cook Government’s plan to address the underlying causes of ambulance ramping.
The PaTCH will improve coordination and oversight of non-emergency patient transfers and reduce the use of ambulances for low and medium acuity interhospital patient transfers.
PaTCH was piloted at East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) late last year to coordinate transfers originating from EMHS hospitals.
It is now being permanently rolled out at EMHS, with further expansion at other metropolitan sites in the coming weeks.
Operating from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, dedicated PaTCH staff will be able to easily book, schedule and allocate available non-emergency patient transport.
The hub will consolidate existing booking systems into a single process – improving efficiency for health professionals, staff and patients.
As part of WA’s State Health Operations Centre (SHOC), it will be co-located with the new WA Virtual Emergency Department (WAVED) to provide a seamless service for patients who do not need to attend an emergency department but do require non-urgent transport to a clinic or hospital site for an alternative care pathway.
It’s expected PaTCH will eventually coordinate around 77,000 patient trips a year, including 23,000 hospital-to-hospital transfers.
Last year, 1.1 million people attended emergency departments across WA with 265,000 emergency ambulances despatched across the State up more than 5,000 from the previous year.
The new hub is part of the Cook Government’s $487 million investment in improving access to emergency care and improving patient flow, with the latest figures showing ramping hours were reduced across the State by 21 per cent in 2023. In December 2023, ramping hours were reduced by 44 per cent, compared to December 2022.
As stated by Premier Roger Cook:
“We are excited to launch PaTCH the latest of our State Health Operations Centre functions to go live.
“PaTCH will improve the flow of patients across the system by providing timely and coordinated transfers, while helping to manage surge demand during periods of peak activity.
“It is part of my Government’s ongoing efforts to address the underlying causes of ambulance ramping, which saw ramping hours reducing across the State by 44 per cent in December 2023, compared to December 2022.”
As stated by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson:
“We are working hard to reduce ambulance ramping hours and PaTCH is the latest tool to help in the effort to minimise the use of ambulances for non-emergency patient transport.
“Along with other improvements across our health system, PaTCH is about providing more suitable pathways for our patients.
“PaTCH will improve collaboration between transport providers and our hospitals, ensuring the best possible patient experience.”
