Ambulances have been forced to wait at Albury hospital for six hours, with a paramedics representative saying there had been no improvement in ramping since the opening of the new emergency department.
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Australian Paramedics Association delegate Gary Wilson told of the lengthy hold-ups at the hospital on April 30.
"Six hours is fairly bad," Mr Wilson, who works in the Riverina, said.
"I'll be honest, normally we don't have six hours but three hours is not unusual."
Mr Wilson pointed out six hours equates to around half a paramedic's shift and such delays could result in outlying towns being left without cover as crews are forced to wait in Albury.
The cause of the extraordinary delays in transferring patients to the emergency department is unclear.
The Border Mail asked Albury Wodonga Health why there was a six-hour wait, whether it is unusual or becoming more commonplace and what changes could be made to address the situation.
No answers were immediately forthcoming, with the inquiries referred to state health ministries.
The Border Mail also asked NSW Ambulance if it had spoken to Albury Wodonga Health about the situation and in reply we were directed back to the hospital service.
Border Better Health representative Michelle Cowan likened the situation to an episode of British television comedy Yes Minister.
"I think when organisations are unwilling to provide information that is really important to the community it says something is wrong," Ms Cowan said.
"If we can't even seek information from Albury Wodonga Health, where can we seek it?
"What are they hiding and what have they got to hide?
"If things are as bad as they appear they need to tell us and they need our support.
"This cloak of secrecy is now multidimensional, we can't get a response from the ministers, we can't get answers from the hospital and we understand clinicians and staff are not permitted to speak out independently."
Mr Wilson would also like to see health authorities be more open with ramping data.
"I think transparency is incredibly important, it's a taxpayer-funded service and the taxpayer has the right to know how the service is performing," he said.
"The doctors, nurses and paramedics are trying to do the best they can with the resources they have and it's not about pointing the finger at one particular political party, it's about having the information out there so we can try and fix the system."
Mr Wilson said "there's been no substantial improvement in ramping for the crews on the ground" and "unfortunately opening a new emergency department doesn't address some of those things that lead to ramping".
He cited changes to hospital transport services, better access to GPs and introducing NSW Ambulance's extended care paramedics program to Albury as factors that could reduce ramping.
Mr Wilson said the care program allowed paramedics using a vehicle other than ambulance to treat patients at home rather than having them transported to hospital.
"Dislocations, lacerations needing only a few stitches, leaking catheters - they're a few of the things we see regularly with patients that we have to transport to hospital that the extended care program could address," he said.
