Ambulance crews should be able to ‘‘say no’’ to demands to transport people to hospital for minor ailments under changes recommended to reduce the pressure on a service plagued with inappropriate call-outs for things such as light globe changes and bed bugs.

A report released on Wednesday, as NSW nurses strike over staff-to-patient ratios, has found ambulances are being forced to wait longer to discharge patients into hospitals in NSW.

Ambulance crews are waiting an average of nearly 32 minutes to discharge patients into hospitals. Credit:Robert Pearce

NSW auditor-general Peter Achterstraat has found that ambulance crews are waiting an average of nearly 32 minutes to discharge patients into hospitals, up from 24 minutes seven years ago.

The report says NSW Health has put in place initiatives to reduce the time ambulance crews have to wait at a hospital. But Mr Achterstraat found only 65 per cent of ambulance crews handed over patients within 30 minutes of arriving, which was well below NSW Health’s target of 90 per cent. The figure is down from almost 77 per cent in 2005-06.