Two years’ worth of ramping in Labor’s first six months

Sunday 25 September 2022
Two years’ worth of ramping in Labor’s first six months

Peter Malinauskas is failing to deliver on his key commitment to “fix ramping” with ambulance ramping in South Australia under his leadership the worst it’s ever been.

Since the Malinauskas Labor Government was elected six months ago, ambulances have been ramped for a total of 17,292 hours – that’s two years’ worth of paramedics’ and patients’ time spent sitting outside hospitals instead of responding to emergency calls.

June was the worst month of ramping in South Australia’s history with a shocking 3,838 hours. That was up from the previous record of 3,412 hours ramped in May.

The huge increase in ramping follows Labor’s decision to delay critical health builds:

Screenshot - media release


Leader of the Opposition David Speirs said South Australians have been deceived.

“Peter Malinauskas promised he would fix ramping, but the situation has been getting worse since he was elected,” Mr Speirs said.

“This was Labor’s number one election commitment, so South Australians would be rightly appalled to see ramping hitting record levels in the past six months.

“The Malinauskas Labor Government is failing South Australians – instead of fixing ramping, securing an ambulance in a life or death situation is a gamble.

“South Australians deserve certainty over the future of our health system. How can the public have any confidence in Peter Malinauskas and Labor to fix ramping when major projects are pushed into the never never?”

Shadow Minister for Health Ashton Hurn said despite promises to fix ramping, paramedics and patients have spent the equivalent of two years on hospital ramps.

“It’s distressing that two years’ worth of ambulance crews’ time has been lost on the ramp outside our hospitals since Labor were elected. This is the exact opposite of what South Australians voted for,” Mrs Hurn said.

“During the election, you’d be hard pressed to find a street that wasn’t plastered with Labor’s posters saying they’d fix ramping – but under Peter Malinauskas ramping is the worst it’s ever been.”