A new audit has revealed that Queensland’s ambulance ramping—the time it takes to transfer patients from an ambulance to the emergency department—has continued climbing “significantly” over the past five years. The audit is the latest report to highlight ongoing problems with the state’s health system, including delays for patients, and mismanagement. “In 2020–21, ambulance lost time for the top 26 hospitals was 111,697 hours—an increase of 76 percent from 2019–20,” the financial audit report of the Queensland Ambulance Service revealed on Dec. 16. The time calculated in the report begins accumulating every moment an ambulance is forced to wait longer than 30 minutes outside a hospital before they can offload their patient. The report also found demand for ambulance services has grown as well, with the number of complex cases increasing. Emergency incidents have increased 18 percent, and urgent incidents by 19 percent—however, the system was commended for its response …