Paramedic performance up, key concerns continue: report

New paramedic performance numbers set to be presented to regional council this week show improvement through the first half of 2023, though key concerns persist.

The numbers are from a mid-year performance update to be presented to the region’s Community and Health Services Committee on Tuesday and suggest things are starting to look up now the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, albeit with some significant room for continued improvement.

According to the report, there were 34,161 total paramedic vehicle responses from January to June 2023. That is down 286, or about one per cent, compared to the first-half of 2022, though still said to be in line with a ‘high growth scenario’ detailed in the Paramedic Services’ Master Plan.

The report also lists ‘unit utilization’ at 44 per cent during the same period, down from 48 per cent though still well above the recommended 35 per cent. This refers to the average percentage of time ambulances and emergency response units are actively engaged in responding to calls as opposed to being deployed waiting for calls.

Meantime, offload delays are also said to be improving.

The report finds a 10 per cent reduction in the number of ambulance days lost to offload delay in the first half of 2023. That said, delays are still also said to be double the five-year pre-pandemic average.

“To date, 235 ambulance days have been lost to offload delay in 2023, the equivalent of losing nearly three 12-hour ambulance shifts per day to offload delay,” the report reads.

The report also finds the number of ‘Code Red’ events, or times in which no ambulance is available to respond, was also down 36 per cent through the first half of 2023 to 38 from 59.

The median length of a code red was also about a minute shorter than during the first half of 2022, at 12 minutes and 50 seconds.