St John Ambulance services are feeling the effects of a hospital system under pressure, with ambulances being forced to wait to drop off patients at many hospitals.
The wait to admit ambulance patients is called 'ramping' and is seeing some ambulances parked up at hospital drop-off bays for more than an hour — frequently longer.
St John said a combination of high hospital bed occupancy, a nationwide shortage of paramedics and non-urgent patients turning up at hospitals are causing the problem.
The latest data from 15 hospitals from Whangārei to Southland show that 3000 ramping hours were recorded in the first quarter of 2019.
That figure had jumped considerably by the last quarter of 2022, which showed ramping hours had risen to 9756.
The extra ramping time has resulted in a reduction, on average, of 11 ambulance shifts per day.
People are being asked not to call an ambulance or turn up at emergency departments unless they have life-threatening conditions.
The advice is to visit a GP or after-hours clinic to help lighten the load.
All patients are prioritised when they arrive at hospital regardless of whether they arrive by ambulance.
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