Can I Claim Compensation for Ambulance Delay?

When you call for an ambulance, you expect a timely response to your urgent medical needs. Unfortunately, ambulance delays are becoming more and more commonplace—sometimes with deadly consequences. If an adverse outcome occurs due to delays in emergency care, patients and their families may be entitled to ambulance delay compensation.

Like many Aussies, Henry Carus + Associates have been watching the news about ambulance delays with great concern. Our medical negligence lawyers are committed to holding healthcare providers responsible for the injuries patients suffer due to their actions—or inaction, as the case may be.

Explore your right to compensation for an ambulance delay by calling 03 9001 1318 today for a FREE, no-obligation consultation. Henry Carus + Associates serve clients throughout Victoria from offices in Melbourne and other communities in the metropolitan area.

How Long Is the Wait for an Ambulance in Victoria?

Ambulance Victoria releases quarterly response time data. The latest report (Quarter 4 April–June 2024) shows that the average response time for an ambulance in Victoria is 15 minutes and 37 seconds.

Melbourne has one of the shortest average response times for ambulances at 13 minutes and 8 seconds. Communities with the longest wait time for an ambulance include:

1. Buloke: 33 minutes and 52 seconds
2. Towong: 28 minutes and 24 seconds
3. Yarriambiack: 25 minutes and 52 seconds
4. West Wimmera: 25 minutes and 38 seconds
5. Mansfield: 25 minutes and 19 seconds
6. Loddon: 25 minutes and 7 seconds
7. Murrindindi: 23 minutes and 55 seconds
8. Gannawarra: 23 minutes and 29 seconds
9. Strathbogie: 23 minutes and 18 seconds
10. Pyrenees: 23 minutes and 3 seconds

Just 64.2% of emergency calls in Victoria are responded to within 15 minutes. This falls far short of Ambulance Victoria’s stated goal of responding to 85% of emergencies in 15 minutes or less.

Make no mistake: If you or someone you love is in the midst of a medical emergency, you should call 000 and wait for paramedics to arrive. However, we feel it is important that the public know they may be entitled to ambulance delay compensation if something goes wrong.

How Long Is Too Long to Wait for an Ambulance?

The delay in ambulance response times has been attributed to a number of different factors. For example, when a Melbourne man died in his home while waiting 4 hours for paramedics to respond, the Victorian Ambulance Union cited overwork as a major contributor.

Paramedics work long shifts with few breaks. This has led to issues of burnout, exhaustion, and increased sick leave. Paramedic shortages lead to ambulance shortages, which can result in limitations in emergency services and put up to 100 km between a patient and the closest ambulance.

Ultimately, the question of ‘how long is too long to wait for an ambulance’ touches on issues of duty of care and standard of care (both central elements in a medical negligence claim), as well as the duties of public sector entities like Ambulance Victoria. Our lawyers work with leading experts to establish the standards for emergency services and identify instances of negligence.

Why Are There Ambulance Handover Delays?

When no beds are available in the emergency department, paramedics are required to stay at the hospital until they can hand over the ambulance patient to hospital staff. This practice is known as ‘ambulance ramping’, and it is another source of significant delays in emergency medical care.

According to ABC News, ambulance ramping is becoming increasingly common at Victoria hospitals due to a rise in the number of emergency patients. This creates a bottleneck for patients arriving via ambulance, who sometimes have to wait for hours before a bed opens up. It also delays ambulance response times and leaves too few ambulances to handle 000 calls effectively.

Ramping is not limited to hospitals in major population centres. It also occurs at smaller hospitals serving rural areas, leaving communities with already limited access to emergency services even more vulnerable.

Hospitals may be held liable for medical negligence if delayed diagnosis and treatment harms a patient. Investigation of ambulance ramping incidents may reveal that understaffing, improper supervision, and other negligent practices resulted in the delay of an ambulance handover. Patients who are adversely affected may have an ambulance delay compensation claim.

What Claims Can You Bring for Ambulance Delay?

Delays in ambulance services, delayed transport to hospital, and ambulance ramping are all symptomatic of a broader crisis affecting the Australian healthcare system. Patients who need care now are the ones who pay the price—sometimes with their lives.

Ongoing media coverage helps to draw attention to fatalities and other sentinel events associated with ambulance and hospital delays. When pursuing ambulance delay compensation, our lawyers principally focus on two types of claims:

Medical Negligence

The patient needs to prove that their injury was caused by the negligence of a healthcare practitioner. Delayed treatment of an urgent medical complaint may be grounds for a medical negligence claim. This may include:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Difficulty breathing
  • Shortness of breath or laboured breathing may be caused by chronic conditions (such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, etc.) or an emergency (such as allergic reaction, pulmonary edema, etc.).
• Choking
• Disorientation, loss of consciousness, or collapse
• Seizure
• Traumatic injuries from falls, motor vehicle accidents, encounters with domestic or wild animals, etc.
• Accidental ingestion of a poisonous substance
• Mental health crisis with the potential for self-harm

Medical negligence lawyers carefully assess the actions of all healthcare professionals believed to be responsible for the patient’s injury. Potential defendants include paramedics, emergency room physicians, and other healthcare professionals, as well as the hospital.

Read More: How Do I Prove Medical Negligence?

Public Authority Claims

Councils, government agencies, and other public authorities may also be held liable for injury. In the event of an ambulance delay, the actions of public entities such as Ambulance Victoria and Triple Zero Victoria should be closely examined.

Negligence must be established in all common law personal injury claims. This can be difficult when the defendant is a public entity.

In Victoria, the liability of public authorities is limited by principles such as financial resources, responsibilities, and compliance with general procedures. Furthermore, there are only certain circumstances where a claim may be brought for wrongful exercise of or failure to exercise function.

Allegations of negligence on the part of public entities must be supported by strong evidence and an in-depth understanding of Victoria’s personal injury legislation. Contacting a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer is crucial for identifying all legal options for obtaining fair compensation.

Severely Impacted by Ambulance Delay? Henry Carus + Associates Can Help

Medical emergencies happen every day. When they do, we expect emergency services to arrive on scene promptly, stabilise us for transport, and get us to hospital for treatment as soon as possible.

In recent years, however, far too many Aussies have had to wait hours for an ambulance to arrive. By the time they get there, some patients have suffered serious health complications, permanent damage, and even death.

Call 03 9001 1318 today for a FREE consultation with Henry Carus + Associates. Our lawyers fight to maximise compensation for the victims of ambulance delays in Melbourne and throughout Victoria.