North Sydney councillor Shannon Welch in motorbike crash

A Sydney councillor who was injured in a weekend motorbike ride has hit out at the state’s swamped health system after waiting one hour for paramedics to respond.

A Sydney councillor has lashed the state’s swamped health system after suffering injuries in a motorbike accident on the lower north shore.

North Sydney Labor councillor Shannon Welch was taking part in a charity bike ride on Sunday when she came off the back of her husband’s bike, landed on the roadway and had to wait about one hour “in excruciating pain” for an ambulance to respond.

Ms Welch – who works as a nurse – said she had to rely on bystanders for support until paramedics arrived.

Shannon Welch was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital.

She was taking part in the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, raising funds for men’s mental health and prostate cancer, when the incident unfolded on a busy section of Alfred St near Luna Park in Milsons Point.

“I was on the back of my husband’s bike and he went to take off and I fell backwards on the road and landed on my back,” Ms Welch said.

“I was a priority patient because we didn’t know if I had a fracture or a neck or head injury and I was drifting in and out of consciousness.

“They couldn’t move me but fortunately we had some off duty paramedics taking part (in the charity bike ride) and the police responded to divert traffic.”

Shannon Welch, pictured prior to the incident.

Ms Welch was taken to the emergency department at Royal North Shore Hospital where she underwent CAT scans and X-rays and later discharged. She was not seriously injured in the incident.

She believes the slow response time and chaotic scenes at the hospital’s emergency ward were indicative of current challenges facing the state’s health system.

“The whole ordeal was terrifying and to have to wait one hour for an ambulance to me says the system is broken,” she said.

Ms Welch was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital.

“In the emergency ward they were announcing over the intercom saying ‘sorry we’re in a crisis situation and we apologise for the wait’.

“I don’t think people within the community really realise just how strained the hospitals and staff are – until you’re in that situation you don’t know.”

NSW Ambulance, in a statement, said it: “regrets the delayed response on this occasion with the service experiencing high demand for medical emergencies in North Sydney at the time of the incident.”

“High numbers of Covid-19 and influenza cases in the community are having an impact on NSW Ambulance in a number of ways, including an increase in transports of confirmed or suspected cases, and staff furloughed due to Covid-19,” a spokeswoman said.

“NSW Ambulance always looks to identify different strategies to provide the most timely out-of-hospital emergency care to the community.”

The incident occurred on Alfred St near Luna Park.

The incident comes amid ongoing industrial action from nurses and paramedics over pay and conditions.

Many of the concerns raised have focused on staffing shortages and hospital capacity which has resulted in ambulance ramping and slower response times.

To help cope with increasing demand, the State Government on Sunday announced $1.76 billion in funding over four years for 1850 new paramedics and 30 new ambulance stations.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said “the investment will help increase capacity both in terms of available paramedics to respond to patients, and available staff to help answer the record volume of calls.”

The NSW opposition said it was a first step towards solving broader problems in the public health system including boosting capacity within hospitals to treat patients.