WA's opposition says the outgoing head of the state's ambulance service is a victim of the government using the organisation as a "scapegoat".
St John WA chief executive Michelle Fyfe announced last night she would be stepping down from her role on July 12, three months before her contract was due to finish.
It follows months of intense pressure and scrutiny on the service, which has had to grapple with COVID-induced staff shortages and record ambulance ramping.
Tensions had emerged between the service and the WA government after the death of an elderly woman who waited more than two hours for an ambulance. After the death, firefighters, police and other officials were sent to help the organisation cope with COVID furlough and surging demand.
Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson was critical of St John's handling of those pressures, saying St John should have activated critical worker protocols.
Premier Mark McGowan said at the time: "They had the COVID plan available, they didn't request the assistance."
St John took blame for government's failings, says opposition
Opposition health spokesperson, Libby Mettam, said the government had to show a "clear commitment" to the organisation's new leader, "after consistently using St John as a scapegoat for their own failings".
"St John have effectively been operating with a hand tied behind their back because of the issues across our hospital system," she said.
"It's time for the McGowan government to take responsibility for the capacity issues across our hospital system ... and make a clear commitment to address this issue as a matter of urgency."
Last month the government promised $252 million to address some of the pressures on the ambulance service, including by freeing up hospital beds being used by long-stay patients.
At the time, Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson tempered expectations of what that money would achieve.
"We don't expect great improvement in the coming months, given we're still in very high case load numbers of COVID and we are coming into our winter season which traditionally sees higher numbers of ramping," she said.
Others also need to take responsibility: union
Announcing Ms Fyfe's resignation in a statement last night, St John WA chair Shayne Leslie said now was "the right time for new leadership, fresh eyes and renewed energy to take the organisation forward".
The announcement came as a surprise to Fiona Scalon, the national ambulance coordinator for the United Workers Union.
But she said the issues facing the organisation, including "incredibly low" morale, were not the fault of Ms Fyfe alone.
"When you take on those roles, like CEO of a big organisation like St John, ultimately the buck does stop with you," Ms Scalon told ABC Radio Perth.
"But there is a whole layer of a board and the rest of the executives of St John that have to take some responsibility as well for things getting to the point that they have."
She said while ambulance services across the country had been under pressure, St John did not respond as well as others had.
"There's processes across the country where degree qualified paramedics have been on-boarded quickly in order to make sure the community has a response, better than has happened in the west," she said.
Ms Scalon said Ms Fyfe's departure could also be an opportunity for the government to take "more control" of the situation, suggesting the service be brought back within the public sector.
The government has previously rejected those suggestions, saying it would remain in private hands at least until the next state election.
The government is in the midst of negotiating a new contract with St John Ambulance, which is due to expire tomorrow.
Health Department Director-General, David Russell-Weisz, told Parliament last week a "very short term" extension had been agreed "to enable discussions to continue".
