We are well into the month and only days away from the Black byelection day, and the ramping stats are nowhere to be seen.
Ahead of the last State Election, Labor Party Candidate Alex Dighton wrote to the people of Black about his concerns on ambulance ramping, in fact in 2022, he “decided to run because right now South Australians are not getting the healthcare they deserve.” Ironically, in 2024, he is now running to join the Government that has delivered the worst ramping in our state’s history.
Leader of the Opposition, Vincent Tarzia said “Since this Government came into power, approximately 110,000 hours of paramedics’ and patients’ time has been lost on ramps outside our emergency departments – that’s the equivalent of over 12.5 years lost.
“There have been times under this Labor Government that ramping in the Flinders Medical Centre has eclipsed that at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. We know there is huge demand for health services in the south. Can residents in Black trust Labor, whose legacy includes closing the Repat?
“Instead of implementing measures to reduce the demands on our emergency departments and hospitals, this Government has increased barriers to primary care, making it harder and more expensive for South Australians to see a GP.”
More ramping has occurred under Labor in just over 2.5 years, than occurred during the entire term of the former Liberal Government, even with an unprecedented system wide code yellow emergency which saw elective surgery bans across the state.
“Only days after the Dunstan byelection Chris Picton put a ban on elective surgery, due to soaring ramping and a health system in crisis. That’s after Labor spent the entire byelection telling people in Dunstan what a great job they were doing in health.
“The Opposition is calling on the Government to be transparent to the people of Black and release the ramping figures today.”
