Ambulance ramping times at Geraldton Health Campus drop after record high in August

Ambulance waiting times have dropped significantly at Geraldton Health Campus after a spike in the first half of 2022. Ambulances spent a total of 5.1 hours waiting to be received during December, according to data from St John WA, a significant reduction from 27.7 hours in August. Ramping hours had been increasing since early 2021 and rose significantly in 2022 before hitting their peak in August, the highest level recorded since the data began being tracked in 2015. These new waiting times are the lowest since February 2021, when ambulances waited 0.8 hours. Geraldton had the second highest ramping times in regional WA in August but has now dropped to third after being overtaken by Albany Health Campus with a waiting time of six hours in December. A spokesperson for Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the government was committed to tackling the issue of high ambulance waiting times in Geraldton and across WA. “There is no quick fix. We are investing in substantial measures to address the systemic causes of ambulance ramping and this worthwhile work takes time, however recent figures for Geraldton are certainly encouraging,” they said. “We continue to investigate additional measures to address ambulance ramping across the State and last month we announced the signing of a completely modernised contract with St John WA.” Bunbury Regional Hospital remains the regional hospital with the most waiting time by far but has seen a similar decrease to Geraldton, with ramping times dropping from 112.7 hours in November to 49.8. Bunbury’s waiting times in turn are still much lower than most metropolitan hospitals, with Fiona Stanley Hospital having the highest at 1247.5 hours.