Ambulance ramping crisis in Brisbane

Patients have been waiting on stretchers outside hospitals in Brisbane's north for more than half an hour due to another ambulance ramping crisis, a union says.

The United Voice Union says the ramping of 12 ambulances at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital on Tuesday afternoon has highlighted the problem.

Spokesman Kroy Day said frustrated paramedics have had enough and want urgent action.

"There are patients waiting on stretchers at hospitals that shouldn't be and there are ambulance officers and vehicles not available for the next job or, God forbid, a major emergency," he said.

Mr Day said paramedics had been told the bad flu season and Brisbane's Ekka show were to blame for the ramping issue.

"That is an absolute excuse and we are sick of it," he said.

"We have the Ekka every year, we have the flu every year."

Mr Day said the ramping issue was impacting all hospitals in Brisbane's metro north area as well as hospitals in the city's south and Cairns.

The union has called on the government to reinstate the previously successful Metropolitan Emergency Department Access Initiative (MEDAI) to resolve the problem.

A spokesman for Health Minister Cameron Dick said the state was looking at reintroducing the initiative but wanted to ensure it would be the most effective way to deal with the issue.