How long patients spent in emergency departments at Victorian Hospitals
Many Victorian hospitals are failing to meet ambulance ramping targets, with patients waiting well beyond the required time to get treatment. See how your local hospital rates.
Patients are being left in ambulances for “hours” on an end outside some of Victoria’s biggest regional hospitals as many fail to meet key targets amid a ramping crisis.
Victoria’s health system has been laid bare in shocking statistics, with thousands of people stuck in emergency departments for longer than 24 hours and inside ramped ambulances for longer than the required time.
About 67 per cent of all patients in Victoria that arrive to a hospital in an ambulance are taken in within 40 minutes between July and September 2025.
Box Hill hospital — in Melbourne’s northeast — had the lowest rate in the state during this period, with only 43 per cent of ambulance presentations being transferred to ED within 40 minutes.
Bairnsdale hospital also failed to reach past 50 per cent between July and September.
Between July and September 2025 the median time taken for patients to be transferred from ambulances into emergency departments across the state was 27 minutes — within the required 40 minutes.
In addition, several hospitals also reported an increase in the number of people who spent 24 hours in emergency departments after presenting to hospitals.
See how your local hospital fared.
Mildura Base Hospital
More than 1300 patients were stuck in the emergency department at Mildura Base Hospital for more than 24 hours in the last financial year — despite a reduction in overall ED presentations from the year before.
On average, people who ended up being admitted spent almost 12 hours in ED, according to the hospital’s latest annual report.
Acting MBPH chief executive Matthew Jukes said the hospital was under immense pressure due to a lack of resources.
“Mildura Base Hospital is 30 beds short at a minimum and this pressure will only increase as our region continues to grow,” he said.
“Our emergency department currently has 16 cubicles, but the level of demand we’ve seen in the past year highlights the needfor significantly more capacity.”
MBPH serves a catchment of almost 80,000 people across Sunraysia and parts of southwest NSW.
Mr Jukes also pointed to a “significant rise” in sicker patients with more complex medical issues.
“The key driver behind these longer stays is the higher volume of critically ill and complex patients requiring admissionto hospital wards,” Mr Jukes said.
Despite Mildura moving patients out of ambulances into the ED quicker than most hospitals — with 86 per cent of patients spending less than 40 minutes in the ambulance — Victoria Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said paramedics were still seeing big delays.
“I’m aware of a crew being ramped for three hours with a patient who had a skull fracture recently, and last month a patient waited on an ambulance stretcher for ten hours,” Mr Hill said.
“Remote rural areas are less forgiving than the major centres or Melbourne. Any time spent ramped is one less crew available to respond to emergencies across a massive area that has limited coverage anyway.”
Box Hill Hospital
Box Hill Hospital had less than 50 per cent of patients transferred into its ED within 40 minutes after arriving in an ambulance.
The hospital’s figure of 48.62 per cent was among the lowest rates in the state, with fellow Eastern Health hospital Maroondah also failing to reach 50 per cent.
An ambulance arrives at Box Hill Hospital about every 12 minutes, with more than 148,000 people presenting to the emergency department in FY25.
Box Hill also had 193 patients stay in its ED for longer than 24 hours.
Ballarat Base Hospital
Nearly half of all patients who were transported to Ballarat Base Hospital in an ambulance waited longer than 40 minutes to be taken into the emergency department.
Grampians Health’s latest annual report revealed only 55 per cent of patients were transferred into the ED at the required time.
A Grampians Health spokeswoman said the hospital was focused on patients with the most urgent needs.
“We’ve redesigned Ballarat Base Hospital’s emergency department to reduce wait times and secured funding to expand the Short Stay Unit, with new cubicles opening in January 2026,” she said.
Goulburn Valley Health (Shepparton)
Only 56 per cent of Goulburn Valley health emergency patients were transferred from ambulances into ED within 40 minutes — a 9 per cent drop from the year before.
In 2024-25, 756 emergency patients, of 42,605 presentations, had an emergency department stay more than 24 hours, compared to 334 in 2023-24.
State Member for Shepparton and Nationals MP Kim O’Keeffe said emergency department wait times were a concern people in the community raised with her.
“Like many rural and regional communities, the Shepparton District continues to face significant challenges in recruiting and retaining doctors, nurses and allied health staff,” she said.
“Workforce shortages place pressure on GV Health and this impacts the hospital’s ability to meet emergency department targets.
“Ambulance ramping also continues to impact the hospital and its emergency department.”
Ms O’Keeffe said it was critical the government invested in regional health services so every person received the healthcare they need and deserve.
GV Health chief operating officer Donna Sherringham said the health service’s emergency department was committed to delivering high-quality care as efficiently as possible.
“We always prioritise the sickest patients first and consistently meet the target of seeing 100 per cent of the most critical patients immediately,” she said.
Bendigo Health
In Bendigo 40 per cent of patients were ramped for longer than the required time which the hospital said was an “improvement” as a result of new initiatives, like having a nurse and doctor rapidly assessing all ED patients as they came in.
It comes as $1.1m in state government funding had recently been injected into Bendigo’s ED.
The number of patients with a length of stay in the ED greater than 24 hours also dramatically decreased, going down from 812 to 344 in the last four years.
Werribee Mercy Hospital
Werribee Mercy Hospital — one of the busiest in the state — had 62 per cent of patients transferred from ambulances into the emergency department within 40 minutes, missing its target by 12 per cent.
This year’s figure was also 11 per cent down on last year’s figure.
According to Victorian Government data, Werribee also had the longest median wait times for non-urgent patients across the state.
Non-urgent patients 80 minutes between 10pm-6am, 58 minutes between 6am-2pm and 83 minutes between 2pm-10pm.
The hospital anticipates once the construction of its new emergency department — which will be able to treat an additional 25,000 people a year.
“A major expansion of Werribee Mercy Hospital’s emergency department is currently underway which will double its current capacity - supporting faster, safer care,” a Mercy Health spokeswoman said.
“We’re also implementing organisation-wide improvements to reduce wait times, improve ambulance transfers, and enhance patient flow.
“Our emergency teams will always prioritise the most urgent cases and work diligently to minimise delays.”
Monash Health (Casey, Dandenong and Monash)
In Melbourne’s southeast Casey and Dandenong hospitals also missed ramping targets.
Casey hospital had 66 per cent of patients transferred to ED within 40 minutes, while Dandenong moved 74 per cent through.
Monash Medical Centre beat its target by 6 per cent, transferring 55 per cent into ED in the required time.
More than 820 patients spent longer than 24 hours at the Casey Hospital in FY25, with only 9 per cent of mental health-related ED presentations transferred to a bed within eight hours.
In the last state budget the Victorian Government invested more than $58m towards expanding ED capacity and short stay visits.
A Government spokesman said this investment ensured patients received the best treatment.
“We’re backing our health services right across Victoria with record investment so patients can get the timely, high-quality care they deserve,” he said.
Peninsula Health (Frankston and Rosebud)
Several hospitals did manage to buck the trend and outperform their respective ramping and wait time targets.
Peninsula Health, which manages Frankston and Rosebud hospitals, has slashed the median time it takes to transfer a patient from an ambulance to the ED to just 8 minutes.
During the same period in 2024 it took 24 minutes to offload a patient from an ambulance to the ED at Frankston Hospital.
Between July and September 2025 Frankston Hospital transferred 94 per cent of people from ambulances into its ED.
The statewide median recorded from April to June this year was 26 minutes, down from a high of 30 minutes for the same time in 2024.
Both hospitals have also recorded a full year without a single patient spending more than 24 hours in emergency.
According to the recently released annual report for Peninsula Health, Rosebud Hospital beat its 240 minute target for the median length of stay in the ED for patients who weren’t admitted by 18 minutes.
Western Health (Sunshine, Williamstown and Footscray)
Hospitals under the Western Health banner — which include Sunshine, Williamstown and Footscray — recorded significant improvement in wait times and the number of patients taken in from ambulances within 40 minutes.
Wait times were reduced by 62 minutes across the three hospitals in FY25.
Williamstown recorded a perfect record of the number of patients transferred into the hospital out of ambulances within 40 minutes. Sunshine had 62 per cent and Footscray 66 per cent of patients transferred within 40 minutes, with both hospitals beating their respective targets.
Williamstown also had zero patients stay beyond 24 hours in the emergency department, with Footscray having 22 and Sunshine 78.
Northern Health
No patients spent more than 24 hours in EDs at any Northern Health hospital in FY25.
The health service — which oversees Northern Hospital Epping, Broadmeadows Hospital, Kilmore District Hospital, Bundoora Centre and Craigieburn Centre — reported zero patients were stuck in emergency for more than a full day.
The figures also revealed 78 per cent of ambulance arrivals were handed over to emergency staff within 40 minutes.
Northern Hospital Epping retained its title as Victoria’s busiest emergency department, recording 118,710 presentations, including more than 33,000 brought in by ambulance.
Across the network, 129,690 patients were admitted, 24,110 non-emergency surgeries were completed, 305,045 specialist appointments were conducted and 3,386 babies were born.
St Vincent’s Hospital
A new offload procedure implemented in mid-March reduced ramping times by 17.4 per cent – resulting in more than 75 per cent of patients transferred to the emergency department within 40 minutes since July 2025.
St Vincent’s also introduced the Australasian Triage System to address “inequities in wait times experienced by First Nations patients”.
Patients assigned as “Category 3” under the system should receive medical assessment and treatment within 30 minutes of arrival.
Since implementing the policy, St Vincent’s reported that average wait times for First Nations patients dropped from 163 minutes to 54 minutes, helping to close the gap between First Nations and non-Indigenous patients.
St Vincent’s also cared for nearly 7,000 patients who presented to the emergency department while experiencing homelessness.
Royal Women’s Hospital
The Royal Women’s Hospital Emergency Centre blasted past its targets in providing timely care to Victorian women.
The Women’s Emergency Centre had 28,772 presentations, with 73 per cent of emergency patients staying than four hours and none beyond 24 hours.
More than 98 per cent of patients who arrived by ambulance were transferred to the ED within 40 minutes, beating its targets of 80 per cent.
Chief executive Sue Matthews said she was “immensely proud” of her staff.
Mercy Women’s Hospital
Almost all patients who arrived by ambulance at Mercy Hospital for Women in Heidelberg were transferred to the emergency department within 40 minutes.
The figures revealed just one patient spent more than 24 hours in the emergency department for treatment during 2024–25.
Patients spent an average of 4.35 hours in the ED before being admitted.
The Alfred
In FY25 92 per cent of patients at The Alfred’s Sandringham hospital were transferred to ED within 40 minutes — smashing past its 80 per cent target.
Its CBD hospital also beat this benchmark, with 82 per cent taken in within the required time.
Zero emergency patients had a length of stay in the ED greater than 24 hours.
Royal Melbourne Hospital
Ambulance handover times improved by more than 10 per cent, reaching an average of 70 per cent of ambulances offloaded within 40 minutes of arrival.
Since March the hospital’s performance reached the state government’s target of 80 per cent.
“This isn’t just a performance measure – it is about dignity, access, and clinical safety for every person who arrives at our doors – and it is a credit to the tireless work of our incredible people,” chief executive Prof. Shelley Dolan said in the hospital’s annual report.
The Royal Melbourne also launched its new digital Emergency Department (ED) wait-time dashboard on the RMH website, which shows the anticipated time non-emergency and less urgent patients may expect to wait between being assessed by the triage nurse and being treated by a doctor.
“Our ED is one of the busiest in the country, and we are seeing an average of 260 to 300- plus patients every day - this dashboard will be available 24/7 and will give those patients who need our care an indication of the level of demand we are experiencing in our ED,” Prof. Dolan said.
