The shocking ambulance data Labor didn’t want Queenslanders to see
Ambulance ramping “lost hours” soared to the worst year on record in 2023, new analysis has exposed.
Queensland already has the worst ambulance ramping in the nation and now we have experienced the worst ambulance “lost hours” in history, these are the numbers Labor tried to hide.
The LNP can reveal October to December was the worst fourth-quarter in the State’s history for ambulance “lost hours” and 2023 was the worst year on record.
Shannon Fentiman’s desperate and deceitful campaign to cover-up lost hours data has backfired spectacularly, after she told Queenslanders “it was improving”, when in fact the numbers are much worse than previous years.
Never before have paramedics spent so much time in a year ramped at hospitals, with hours skyrocketing 10 per cent in the past year:
- 2023 – 161,909 total lost hours
- 2022 – 147,001 total lost hours
- 2021 – 131,461 total lost hours
- 2020 – 66,700 total lost hours
Shadow Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Ros Bates said Shannon Fentiman’s lies and cover-up exposed her wrong priorities.
“These shocking statistics are the worst ambulance lost hours on record, never before have ambulances waited so long on ramps in October, November and December,” Ms Bates said.
“Shannon Fentiman has deliberately lied to Queenslanders, claiming the numbers were going down when in fact they were getting much worse.
“Shannon Fentiman can’t be trusted with her deceitful character and the wrong priorities.
“In an attempt to conceal her failures and the truth from Queenslanders, Shannon Fentiman changed the way the data was collated and reported.
“Queenslanders were looking for leadership from Labor, instead they got lies and cover-ups at the hands of a Minister more worried about political future instead of Queensland’s future.
“Queenslanders deserve to know this information but Shannon Fentiman was more worried about how it would make her look.“When patients are losing lives on ambulance ramps, Queenslanders deserve transparency and accountability, not more Labor chaos and crisis.
“The Health Minister chose to provide the average time each ambulance loses when ramped – instead of providing a total for the actual hours lost.
“As a nurse and former hospital administrator, I feel for my frontline colleagues who are working double shifts to keep the health system on the rails.
“Paramedics didn’t sign up to this vocation to spend an entire shift in the back of a ramped ambulance.
“Only the LNP has the right priorities for Queensland’s future, including easier access to health services.
“The LNP’s plan to heal the Queensland Health Crisis includes better resources, better triaging, sharing data in real-time and putting doctors and nurses back in charge to improve patient care.”
ENDS
| Health & Hospital Service | Oct 23 | Nov 23 | Dec 23 | 2023 Q4 TOTAL Lost Hours | 2023 TOTAL Lost Hours |
| Cairns and Hinterland | 384 | 402 | 399 | 1185 | 4547 |
| Central QLD | 465 | 379 | 342 | 1186 | 6397 |
| Children’s Health | 48 | 34 | 42 | 124 | 561 |
| Darling Downs | 309 | 267 | 363 | 939 | 3193 |
| Gold Coast | 770 | 233 | 1053 | 2056 | 10867 |
| Mackay | 242 | 233 | 225 | 700 | 2923 |
| Mater Public Hospitals | 643 | 895 | 740 | 2278 | 10568 |
| Metro North | 2568 | 2383 | 2268 | 7219 | 30356 |
| Metro South | 3742 | 4377 | 3968 | 12,087 | 54681 |
| North West | 8 | 13 | 12 | 33 | 196 |
| Sunshine Coast | 593 | 731 | 690 | 2014 | 7531 |
| Townsville | 148 | 136 | 115 | 399 | 1491 |
| West Moreton | 1806 | 2051 | 1828 | 5685 | 22172 |
| Wide Bay | 529 | 458 | 498 | 1485 | 6424 |
| 161,909 |
NOTE: Lost hours have been calculated by multiplying the ‘average lost time’ by the number of arrivals, and then dividing that number by 60 (so that the final number is hours, instead of minutes).
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