March figures ramp up pressure on new health structure

The significant task of the new Health ministry team formed by Premier Roger Cook in the wake of Labor’s overwhelming victory at the recent State Election is evident in the latest ambulance ramping figures. The Premier has explicitly linked the new structure to the intention of bringing down rates of emergency department overcrowding, and more availability of hospital beds. With March the second worst ramping ever for WA for that month, Health and Mental Health Minister Meredith Hammat will have plenty to discuss with her other ministerial colleagues tasked with the health portfolio.

Only the 5,639 hours in March 2022 were greater than the 5,451 hours in the March just past. Though COVID-19 ICU and ward admissions in March 2022 were below that expected from the State Government’s modelling, the figure was 37% higher than March 2021.

In 2024, the Government used March ramping figures of 3,404 hours to demonstrate that its WA Virtual Emergency Department (WAVED) initiative, which included a mental health co-response model, was a success. 

“This model is part of the Cook Government’s historic emergency department reforms to address the underlying causes of ambulance ramping, building on the $672.5 million of reforms already underway,” the Government said at the time.

“The reforms already delivered have seen ambulance ramping in the six months to March 2024 reduce by 27% compared with the same period last year.”