Strained ambulance service to be subject of joint advocacy by county and city

Middlesex-London Paramedic Service ambulance. (Source: MLPS)

Middlesex County officials sounded the alarm about the mounting pressures impacting local ambulance service during a presentation to London city council.

“We’re either at the bottom, or near the bottom, in offload delays in the province. This is something we can’t sustain, it has to be fixed,” CAO of Middlesex County Bill Rayburn told city council.

Offload delays occur when an ambulance arrives at an emergency room that is at capacity and paramedics must continue to offer medical care until the patient can be admitted to the hospital.

According to a report from the Middlesex London Paramedic Service, ambulance offload delays in 2023 have increased by 56 per cent over 2022.

That’s on top of a 159 per cent increase in 2021.

Fifty-one per cent of patients brought to London’s emergency rooms by ambulance are now subject to offload delays that keep paramedics from responding to other calls.

The average offload delay at the hospital now exceeds three hours.

MLPS is seeking ownership of the call answering, clinical triage, and dispatch systems and processes for ambulances.

The county believes ownership of dispatch would, “allow for a more sophisticated operational response model and enhance clinical outcomes for patients.”

“We’ve had really great conversations with the Premier, we’ve had really good conversations with the minister of health,” Rayburn told council. “They need to implement it. They need to do it.”

Following Rayburn’s presentation, councillors voted to direct Mayor Josh Morgan to support Middlesex County and MLPS in their advocacy including issues related to dispatch, offload delays, and the provincial funding formula.

Coun. Corrine Rahman adding, “We also need to inspire our residents to take up a pen and paper, send emails, reach out, and start advocating. These (budget) pressures are entirely solvable through the province.”