United Voice News
The LHMU, the union representing 6800 ambulance officers, has collated data showing that more than $50,000 was spent on keeping paramedics ramped at one Brisbane hospital in the last three months alone.
The figure comes from wages for the 1000 hours estimated to have been spent by paramedics waiting to admit patients to the hospital in June, July and August.
“This is just a fraction of the total yearly cost of ramping to the Queensland taxpayer,” LHMU Branch Secretary Gary Bullock said.
“For example, yesterday afternoon there were five crews ramped at the Princess Alexandra Hospital for between one and two hours each.
“What that equates to for Queenslanders is a serious waste of money and the potential for disaster if a major accident happened and all the available ambulances were unavailable.
“Through the LHMU’s work, 500 additional ambulance officers have been put on the road in the last two years, but Queensland’s population continues to grow.
“What we really need to fix this problem is more ambulance officers, more hospitals and better infrastructure.
“Otherwise, we’re just going to see more people losing their lives and more taxpayer dollars go down the drain in the future.”
Mr Bullock said ramping was an issue the LHMU had been fighting to improve for years.
The LHMU is currently in its eleventh month of arbitration with Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) to resolve the ambulance EBA and secure better resourcing for the service.
The union is calling for an additional 500 ambulance officers on Queensland roads in the next two years to solve ongoing problems in the service, including ramping.
For more information on ramping, please visit the AEA website at www.aeaq.org.au
