Ambulance ramped hours more than double at Geraldton Health Campus, but hospital says ramping remains low

Geraldton Health Campus says ambulance ramping hours remain low at its facility despite a significant surge last month resulting in an almost two-year high.

According to St John WA, 26.2 hours of ramping were recorded at Geraldton Health Campus in June, a jump from 11.2 recorded in May.

A Geraldton Health Campus spokesperson said the flu season was causing increases across the State.

The June ambulance ramping figures in Geraldton were at the highest level since August 2022.

“We know influenza season increases pressure on emergency departments right around the State, not just at Geraldton Health Campus,” she said.

“Despite this, ramping at the facility remains extremely low — less than one hour per day in the month of June.”

Geraldton Health Campus recorded the second highest ambulance ramping hours in June, with only Bunbury (112.3) seeing higher wait times.

However, the ramp times remain low when compared to the Perth area, where ramping hours are in excess of 1000 for some hospitals.

Acting WA Liberal leader Steve Martin said the ramping hours were due to the lack of intervention from the State Government.

“WA’s ramping crisis is not a product of winter — we have June every year,” he said.

“We have lived through the worst June on record, and the ambulance ramping crisis across the State is entirely the product of the mismanagement and incompetence of the Cook Labor Government.

“WA is living in an era of out-of-control ramping, exhausted and overworked healthcare professionals, unprecedented elective surgery and specialist waitlists, and unacceptable patient deaths, because of this Labor Government’s inaction.”

St John WA publicly reported in WA, one quarter of priority one calls, the most serious, were not attended to within 15 minutes on Saturday.

Geraldton Health Campus confirmed it evaluates patients on arrival based on which ones need to be seen first.

“When patients arrive at Geraldton Health Campus, they are prioritised for care according to how sick they are regardless of their mode of transport,” the spokesperson said.

“This ensures high-priority patients are seen before those with less serious conditions.

“To further bolster capacity at the facility, the State Government has also invested $8.9 million to support patient flow at some of country WA’s busiest hospitals.”

WA Country Health Service confirmed the increase in ramping hours had no correlation to the redevelopment at Geraldton Health Campus.