Ambulance Victoria relying on cabs to ferry patients as service struggles

Ambulance Victoria booked a whopping 28,000 taxi trips to take regional-based patients to and from hospital and other appointments last year as the state’s ambulance service continues to struggle.

Ambulance Victoria booked an average of 76 taxis every day last year to take regional-based patients to and from hospital and other appointments, slugging Victorians tens of thousands a year.

Data from Ambulance Victoria whistleblowers has ­revealed the organisation’s reliance on cabs to move non-critical patients has exploded, more than tripling in just four years.

The Herald Sun can reveal a whopping 28,000 trips were booked last year alone, a huge increase on 2019 when 9000 taxis were used, sparking concerns taxis are being used to ease the load of the state’s struggling ambulance service.

In one recent example, taxpayers were slugged more than $1400 to transport a person from Wangaratta to Mildura. In another case, it cost almost $500 to go from Sale to Dandenong Hospital, and $750 from Wangaratta into Melbourne.

The number of trips being booked has been rising since 2019 before skyrocketing to 21,000 in 2022.

The Herald Sun can reveal a whopping 28,000 trips were booked last year alone. Picture: Jay Town

Non-emergency patient transport services are provided by Ambulance Victoria as well as a range of private ­patient transport providers.

But in recent years the ­organisation has relied on taxis to fill the void.

In many cases, taxi drivers sit outside hospitals with their meters on waiting for patients.

Ambulance Victoria refused to say how much it had spent on taxis.

One employee, who did not want to be identified, said ­demand was “out of control”.

“Taxis are used as Ambulance Victoria does not have enough resources to cope with incoming workload,” they said.

“Sometimes when metropolitan hospitals discharge a patient, they will deem them suitable for taxi transport out of sheer desperation to free up a hospital bed.

“Some of these patients are really unwell, ­including post-chemotherapy.”

The Victorian Ambulance Union says it has repeated advocated for Ambulance Victoria to boost its clinical transport services fleet. Picture: David Geraghty

Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said he had been advocating for more resources for patient transport.

“AV could be doing more and the government could be doing a lot more,” he said.

“We know there are patients that can go in taxis but there’s a lot that should really be going with patient transport services, particularly elderly and frail people who need help getting in and out of the vehicle.”

Ambulance Victoria had been trialling UberHealth for transfers as a cost-cutting measure, but recently paused it.

The Herald Sun was told drivers kept turning up to hospitals and driving off before they found their patients then charging a cancellation fee to Ambulance Victoria.

In one horrifying case, one sick patient heading home from hospital was picked up by a driver who was in the process of making a pizza delivery.

Despite this, it is understood the trial will be reactivated.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said taxis were never sent in place of ambulances or when clinical supervision or treatment was needed.