Ramping Surges to Worst Level of 2026

Media Release | 3 August 2026
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Libby Mettam
Shadow Health Minister
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Ambulance ramping has surged to its highest level this year, with ambulances spending nearly 6000 hours outside West Australian hospitals during July waiting to transfer patients into overcrowded emergency departments.
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The July ramping figures of 5,924 hours were more than 590 hours higher than the 5,333 hours recorded the previous month - an increase of 11 per cent in just one month.
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It follows 5,386 hours of ambulance ramping in May – the worst on record - and means ambulances were ramped for an average of more than 191 hours every day during July.
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Shadow Health Minister Libby Mettam said the figures showed the Cook Labor Government had failed to address the underlying capacity crisis gripping WA's hospitals.
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"Nearly 6,000 hours of ambulance ramping means thousands of hours with sick and injured patients left waiting at overcrowded emergency departments instead of receiving the hospital care they need," she said.
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"These are not just numbers on a spreadsheet. Behind every hour is a patient waiting in pain or distress, a family desperate for answers and an ambulance that is unavailable to respond to another emergency.
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"When Roger Cook was Shadow Health Minister, he described 1,030 hours of ambulance ramping as a massive failure and a crisis, while warning of horror stories involving patients waiting hours for care.
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"His government is now presiding over almost six times that amount. More than 5,000 hours of ramping cannot be allowed to become the new normal. It is not normal, it is not acceptable and West Australians deserve better from their government.
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"I understand this year has been a mild flu season compared to last, meaning it is only sheer luck and not good governance that we haven't seen even higher ramping records."
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Ms Mettam said Labor could not continue blaming winter, population growth and an ageing population for pressures it had almost a decade to anticipate and prepare for.
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"Our doctors, nurses and paramedics are doing an extraordinary job, but they are being forced to do more with less because the Government failed to properly plan for the growth of our State," she said.
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The latest figures come as the Cook Labor Government also fell short of each of the influenza vaccination targets it established ahead of winter.
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Only 28 per cent of the overall population had been vaccinated against influenza, compared with Labor's target of 40 per cent. The Government also missed its targets for children under 12 and Western Australians aged 65 and over.
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"Labor announced ambitious vaccination targets, extended its free vaccination program and spent more than $100 million preparing for winter - but still missed every target it set," Ms Mettam said.
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"The Opposition called for the free vaccination program to begin earlier so families had more time and more opportunities to protect themselves before winter arrived.
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"Lower flu infections this year are welcome, but they do not excuse Labor's failure to meet its own targets or its continued failure to provide the hospital capacity Western Australia needs."
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Media contact: Graham Mason 0419 194 792