Patient care on the ramp: Who is legally responsible?

2024/12/03 by Michael Eburn, Tina Cockburn, Anne‐Maree Kelly · 1 voice
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Medicine · Psychology · #Emergency and Acute Care Studies #Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints #Healthcare Policy and Management

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/1742-6723.14541

openalex publication_date 2024/12/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Ambulance ramping, the delay to transfer of a patient arriving at an ED by ambulance into an ED treatment space and handover of care to ED clinicians, is a problem in all Australian states and territories and New Zealand. It is a symptom of ED overcrowding and access block and has been associated with adverse health outcomes for some patient groups. The questions arise, who might be legally responsible for the care of patients who are ramped and does their physical location matter? The short answers are 'everyone' and 'no', however, whether there will be a breach of duty depends on the reasonableness of responses and resource allocation considerations.

Discussions

• Patient care on the ramp: Who is legally responsible? “The law does not draw fine lines to answer the question of who might be legally responsible for the care of ramped patients. The answer is every [bsky, 3 points, 0 comments]

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