The latest NSW Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Quarterly Health Report, for the October-December 2024 period, has revealed that NSW Ambulance is struggling under the pressure of increasing demand, resulting in worsening response times.
The latest numbers from the BHI are record-breaking, with data indicating that NSW Ambulance managed 291,463 incidents and 391,370 responses, the highest number of any quarter since 2010.
The data has also presented worsening response times for P1As (high acuity and priority incidents) with only 62.6% receiving an ambulance response within the clinically recommended timeframe of 10 minutes.
The president of the Australian Paramedics Association NSW (APA NSW), Mr. Brett Simpson, commented, “The Government loves to complain about the cost of healthcare but refuses to invest in community-based solutions that provide patients early access to the care they need, keeping them out of the back of Ambulances and out of Hospitals.”
Mr. Simpsons added: “What this shows is that increases in staffing are not a silver bullet. If we can’t get the right care to our patients at the right time, then they will get sicker and sicker until their only option for care is an emergency department.”
“We are calling on the State and Federal Government to stop buck passing and start working on solutions. It’s not just better for our patients, it’s better for your budgets.”
