SYDNEY — Frustrated patients in Australia are exiting ambulances and leaving before receiving treatment after waiting in hospital parking lots for hours.
Up to eight ambulance crews were stuck waiting at Royal Melbourne Hospital last Tuesday for up to five hours, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Two crews that arrived at 6pm, one with a patient with breathing problems and the other with a fractured hip, couldn’t offload the patients until close to midnight.
One of those crews came back to the hospital at 3 a.m. and faced a seven-hour wait time.
A hospital spokeswoman told the Daily Telegraph that even with a full staff, that night had an “exceptional increase” of demand, with 106 out of 176 patients considered urgent cases.
Ambulances at the hospital spent an average of 951 hours each month last year waiting to offload patients according to documents, an average of 232 hours more than in 2009-2010.