Average ambulance wait times in Sydney increased to a decade high in 2021, with data showing paramedics were taking longer to respond to emergencies than their counterparts in other states even before the demands of COVID-19.
The figures were among many indicators of the stress experienced by the health system and the public during the pandemic in the 2022 Report of Government Services, released by the federal Productivity Commission on Tuesday.
In 2020-21, NSW Ambulance attended half of Sydney’s code 1 emergencies, the most urgent medical situations, within 12.3 minutes. In 2019-20, this proportion of emergencies were attended within 11.3 minutes.
However, at 10 per cent of these calls, a paramedic was not on the scene within 25.1 minutes.
In Melbourne, local paramedics were on the scene within 10 minutes in half of incidents. Fifty per cent of Brisbane incidents were attended within 11.3 minutes.
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Statewide, NSW Ambulance responded to 50 per cent of code 1 emergencies within 12.5 minutes. Across Australia, only those in Tasmania waited longer (14 minutes).
Paramedics were faced with record numbers of call-outs over the December-January period, as hundreds of thousands of people managed COVID-19 infections at home.
On January 1, 5120 triple zero calls were received in NSW. On January 4, the average wait time for a priority 1 emergency was 82 minutes. Responding to the demand, NSW Ambulance brought forward the start dates of paramedic graduates and increased its number of staff taking calls.
Before Omicron, there were record ambulance waits in NSW
Source: Philippines Alive
