AEA secretary Leah Watkins says Labor will not be under same pressure immediately as Libs

The Ambo Union has made a plea for “urgent action” by the new government on ramping, but said they won’t continue the same pressure as through the election campaign.

Hospital code whites were triggered around Adelaide on Monday night, but the head of the state’s ambulance union says they would not hold the new government to the same pressure as its previous counterparts.

A ‘code white’, indicating that all emergency beds were full, at the Lyell McEwin, Modbury, Noarlunga, Royal Adelaide and The Queen Elizabeth hospitals was experienced on Monday night.

While conceding that Labor government would not fall under the same daily pressure as Steven Marshall’s Liberal party did due to pre-election promises surrounding health, Ambulance Employees Association general secretary Leah Watkins said her union will push the state government to follow through with their promises and make “urgent action”.

“The overwhelming sentiment of members is just that they are just so relieved, there’s a lightness in the air,” she told ABC Radio.

“You know, we can breathe again, knowing that a help is on its way, but it takes time to recruit people and so we need some urgent action now.”

Ms Watkins said that ramping will “not disappear overnight”.

“The risk to patients, the risk to members is still there.”

Ambulance Employee Association secretary Leah Watkins was emotional as she spoke of the election result. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

Priorities for the government, Ms Watkins said, should be focused on freeing up bed capacity and increasing staff levels.

Ms Watkins also suggested that implementing a form of private sector management to help free up beds at hospitals could assist the Labor government to solve current issues.

She said current response times for ambulances was “abysmal” and said it was “baffling” that the previous state government did not tap into emergency Covid-19 solutions that were in place.

“A lot of the initiatives that they sort of put in the wings for Covid, if Covid was become a serious problem, there’s potentially still some solutions there that have not been tapped into yet or for whatever reason they’re not tapped into that, even though the hospitals are chokkas and the ambulance can’t meet demands,” she said.

“Not meeting priority one, two or three response times, and people dying in the community.”

Ms Watkins had one clear message for her members.

“I have had so many people say that they had their resignation letters written and ready to hand in if the Liberal Party were re-elected, and they’ve been able to tear those up,” she said.

It comes as new Premier Peter Malinauskas said he would release ramping statistics “as soon as possible” each month to give the public an insight into his party’s promise to reduce wait times.

A centrepiece of Mr Malinauskas’ campaign, he wasted no time after being sworn in as the state’s 47th premier on Monday by visiting the Royal Adelaide Hospital to talk to workers.

“I’m here with our doctors, nurses, ambos, cleaners, healthcare workers and staff in the hospital because I want to thank them for everything they do,” he said in a social media post accompanied by photos.

The visit was highly symbolic of his commitment to upgrading the health system is his top priority including the pledge of 300 extra beds, 350 extra paramedics and ambulance officers, 300 extra nurses and 100 extra doctors.