It's hoped ambulance ramping on Brisbane's southside will be reduced with the introduction of a new command centre, the Queensland government says.
The Patient Access Coordination Hub was officially brought online at the Princess Alexandra Hospital on Tuesday after a number of weeks of testing, with responsibilities to coordinate where ambulances are deployed across the Metro South district.
State Health Minister Steven Miles said ramping - the time ambulances spend waiting to hand over patients to emergency departments - was caused by the increasing demand being placed on hospitals, and facilities like PACH would help the system better cope with surges in demand.
"Last year Queensland experienced one of the worst flu seasons on record, which put extra pressure on our busy paramedics and health professionals," Mr Miles said.
"This certainly makes it much easier to manage those kinds of pressures."
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Ramping across the state's hospitals reached 25 per cent in February, but Metro South CEO Stephen Ayre said this had since decreased.
"There has been quite a significant improvement over the last few weeks, particularly associated with the support through PACH," Mr Ayre said.
PACH cost $1.2 million and features existing Queensland Ambulance and Queensland Health staff as well as new staff brought on specially for the project.
