The Ministry of Health has admitted that there is always a high demand for ambulances and to deal with this challenge, they are working collaboratively with the other service providers such as St Johns and National Fire Authority.
The statement comes after Fijivillage asked the Health Ministry to clarify whether there are enough ambulances to cater for the increasing population especially in the Central Division.
Some people have told us that they had to wait for long periods at Nausori Health Centre to get transferred to the CWM hospital.
These people say they were suffering from serious illness and had to wait as there was no ambulance to take them to the CWM hospital.
The Ministry says they have five ambulances in the Central Division where two are based at the CWM Hospital, one in Navua, one in Korovou and one in Vunidawa.
It has been revealed that the ambulance based in Nausori has been under repair and is expected to return to service by next week.
In the meantime, other vehicles have been deployed flexibly whenever possible.
The Ministry adds that emergency cases are always given priority which means other patients may sometimes be asked to wait or make other arrangements.
We have also spoken to St John Ambulance Fiji who say there is a need for more ambulances to cater for the increasing demand.
St John Ambulance’s Manager Ambulance Services Lloyd Ahtack says they currently have two ambulances while two other ambulances are in the garage undergoing maintenance.
