WA doctor Peter Allely says hospital emergency departments being run as though in 'disaster situation'

A senior WA emergency department doctor has described his workplace as running in a "disaster situation", struggling within a health system which has an "unhealthy fixation" on ambulance ramping.

This winter has exposed deep issues with how Western Australia cares for its sick, with services swamped by demand.

It has resulted in ambulances spending a record 7,074 hours parked outside hospitals waiting to transfer patients last month and dozens of elective surgeries being cancelled .

"It's the worst it's been in the 18 years I've been in WA emergency departments," WA-based Australasian College for Emergency Medicine President-elect Peter Allely told Stateline.

He described a "disheartening" work environment, with many staff looking for a way out "and checking their super balance" wi