Adelaide public hospitals treating more patients than capacity

METROPOLITAN public hospitals are still treating more patients in EDs than the city’s total official capacity and gridlocks in wards are making matters worse.

ADELAIDE’S hospital system is continuing to buckle under the strain on Tuesday night as demand overwhelmed the system with more patients being treated than capacity across the city.

But at 6.30am on Wednesday, all of the state’s major EDs were operating smoothly, under capacity.

Of those, the Lyell McEwin was treating 29 patients, with a total capacity of 41, however there was a long wait time for people needing to be assessed by a clinician, of more than 290 minutes,

The WCH was also operating under capacity, but the average wait time for patients to be assessed by a clinician was 157 minutes.

On Tuesday night, ambulances ramped and private hospitals were reportedly full as at 5pm the city’s seven major public hospitals were treating 284 patients in their EDs, despite official capacity being 277 patients.

There were also 54 people waiting to be seen and another 25 due to arrive by ambulance or other means notified to authorities.

By 8.30pm, the gridlock had eased with only 235 patients in major public hospitals but Flinders Medical Centre and Lyell McEwin Hospital were still over-capacity.

The situation was worst at the major northern and southern hospitals which were on code white — treating more patients than their capacity..

At Lyell McEwin Hospital the 41-capacity ED was treating 57 people and arrivals faced an average of 92 minutes to be seen.

The emergency department of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. File image.

Flinders Medical Centre was treating 64 people in its 53-capacity ED and patients faced an average wait of 80 minutes to be seen.

Four other hospitals were on code red — at, or near, capacity, including the Women’s and Children’s Hospital where there were 26 people being treated in its 26-capacity ED.

The ED gridlock was made worse by the inability to efficiently move patients to ward beds once they were treated — there were 55 people waiting for beds including three who had been waiting for more than 24 hours.

The Royal Adelaide Hospital had by far the most with 29 patients treated but waiting for a ward bed, two of them for more than 24 hours.