Tasmanians experiencing life-threatening emergencies waited longer for an ambulance in November than at any point in the past year, with median response times climbing to 15.7 minutes.
The figure marks a steady increase from 14.1 minutes in May 2025, according to the latest Ambulance Tasmania data.
Labor shadow health minister Sarah Lovell said the statistics showed the government’s flagship ambulance ramping ban had failed to improve patient care.
“This was a band-aid solution, it was a three-word political slogan,” she said.
“The only statistic that is being improved by this transfer-of-care protocol is the statistic that means nothing in terms of access to patient care.”
“When people call an ambulance it’s because they need one and they need one quickly.”
The government, however, has pointed to significant reductions in ambulance ramping at hospitals as evidence its policy is working.
Health Minister Bridget Archer announced in late November that ambulances spent 17,500 fewer hours ramped in 2024-25 compared to the previous year, a reduction of 64%.
“This is an outstanding result and means ambulances are freed up to get back into the community and respond to emergencies sooner, ensuring Tasmanians get the care they need, when they need it,” she said at the time.
Despite those gains, response times continued to rise.
Emergency incidents also increased 16% over the past year, from 3,718 in November 2024 to 4,302 in November 2025.
Minister Felix Ellis said the government was focused on improving compliance with the transfer-of-care protocol, with some facilities achieving rates as high as 100%.
He blamed failures in federal aged care and disability services for contributing to hospital bed block.
“Every state in Australia has written to the federal government to ensure that they are not causing more bed blocks in our hospitals,” he said.
“There are hundreds of people who are prevented from leaving hospital because the federal government hasn’t made the investments.”
Lovell rejected attempts to shift blame to Canberra.
“There is no doubt that the federal government play a role here,” she said.
“We have a dual funding model for hospitals and health care, we always have, but the state government can’t use that as an excuse to shirk their responsibility and say that it is entirely the federal government’s responsibility.”
The government tightened its transfer-of-care target from 60 minutes to 45 minutes in mid-December.
