The latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly Report has revealed an alarming rise in ambulance demand, with ambulance responses up 7.8% compared with the same quarter last year.
At the same time, the report showed that 1-in-10 patients had waited more than 76 minutes for an ambulance – the longest recorded wait time since BHI began tracking this measure.
“This surge in ambulance responses is outpacing our population growth, putting immense pressure on our paramedics and emergency services,” said Secretary of the Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) ‘APA ‘(NSW)’, Brendan McIlveen.
“With ambulance responses rising faster than the number of incidents, it’s clear the system is at breaking point.”
The report shows 18,461 P1A (highest priority) responses, a 36.5% increase and an almost 200% increase on the 6,551 responses since the same quarters in 2023 and 2019 respectively.
BHI Chief Executive, Dr Diane Watson said the record demand for ambulance and ED services in recent quarters cannot simply be explained by the increasing NSW population.
“BHI conducted special analysis of the past decade of data to determine to what extent increasing demand has been driven by population growth,” Dr Watson said.
“Demand for ED and ambulance services has outpaced NSW population growth since 2017–18. During this period, ED attendances grew 3.4% faster than the population, even after accounting for the state’s increasing average age, while ambulance responses grew 4.5% faster than the population in the last year of analysis alone, between 2021–22 and 2022–23.”
The report also shows there were 194,167 P1 (emergency) responses, up 9.3% from 2023. This growing gap highlights the strain placed on paramedics to meet demand, especially when emergency resources are already stretched, said Mr McIlveen.
“The latest release is our grim quarterly reminder that we need systemic change to fix the healthcare crisis. It’s time for our elected representatives to show vision and leadership.”
“If we are going to stem the bleeding; we need triaging reform, more specialist paramedics, regional health investment, and large-scale investment in community healthcare.
“We need 24/7 Patient Transport Officers, the Government’s projected timeframe of 3-5 years is not good enough. These reforms are the key demands of APA (NSW)’s We Deserve Better Campaign.
“We need a healthcare system that provides the right care for the right patient, at the right time, and we must review the system to include the voices of paramedics, dispatchers, and patients. Our patients and our communities deserve better,” he said.
Adding to the urgency, emergency department attendance also climbed, with 795,817 visits, up 3.3% from last year, further exacerbating delays in ambulance handovers.
“APA (NSW) acknowledges the government’s recent investments have mitigated a situation that could have been far worse. But the reality is clear – without meaningful reform to triaging and system-wide improvements, these issues will only worsen,” said Mr McIlveen.
