All SA’s public hospitals were over capacity on Monday, with ‘internal disaster’ recorded at Flinders Medical Centre

All SA’s major public hospitals were over capacity on Monday, with 22 people forced to wait for a bed in emergency for more than 24 hours.

All of the state’s major public hospitals reached catastrophic levels of overcrowding on Monday, with the Flinders Medical Centre issuing an “internal disaster” code.

At 2pm, each of the hospitals reached “Code White”, indicating overcapacity and an absence of spare beds.

At its peak, 139 people were waiting for a bed in emergency departments, and 22 would-be patients could not secure a bed for more than 24 hours, the Opposition said.

SA Health hospital data as of 2pm on Monday, showing “Code White” at all centres. Picture: SA Health

An SA Health statement said there were “a range of measures” introduced to “rebalance demand” at FMC.

These included moving regional patients to hospitals closer to their homes, moving people into private hospitals and increasing transfers to community care.

SA Health said work to restabilise the system would continue in coming days but the situation was not unique to South Australia, with high-need presentations seen across the country.

“We thank all of our hardworking staff for their ongoing commitment to providing the best care to our patients at this time,” it said.

Ramping was exacerbated across the hospitals, with government figures at 5.30pm on Monday reporting average ambulance delays of 142 minutes at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, 117 minutes at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and 93 minutes at FMC.

The Ambulance Employees Association posted a photo on Twitter, which showed 14 ambulances ramped while the FMC was managing the “Code Yellow” internal emergency.

This was Flinders Medical Centre just after midday today. 14 Ambulances ramped, while the hospital is on Code Yellow (Disaster Code).

Ramping denies what few ambulances there are for the community. #saparlihttps://t.co/Y8n9AW6IRdpic.twitter.com/sINwsbeVCp

— Ambulance Employees Association (SA) (@aeasa1981) May 3, 2021

There also was a nearly three-hour wait at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, up to a two-hour wait at Modbury Hospital, and a one-and-a-half hour wait at Noarlunga Hospital.

Labor health spokesman, Chris Picton described the situation as “off the charts”

“Doctors and nurses are calling these figures unprecedented,” he said.

“These are people who are already going through a traumatic experience, which is made significantly worse by this government’s cuts to our hospitals.”

Health Minister Stephen Wade said a key cause was a lower-than-normal level of discharges across the weekend, but he could not explain why this had occurred.

He said action was being taken and clinical support put in place at smaller, community centres to help deal with demand.