Ambulance ramping: Royal Adelaide Hospital patient died after 42 minutes ‘stuck on ramp’
SA Health has revealed a patient died after being stuck in an ambulance outside the RAH earlier this year – the second claimed ramping-related death in 12 months.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- September: Ramping was worst on record in August, union says
- October: More moves to free up hospital beds and ease ramping
- Today: ICAC boss’s fears of SA Health corruption revealed
A pensioner died at the state’s main hospital after being “ramped” in an ambulance for 42 minutes amid claims the dangerous practice had doubled to record levels, MPs heard on Monday.
SA Health documents revealed the condition of the woman, who has not been identified, “deteriorated” outside the Royal Adelaide Hospital before she suffered a cardiac arrest.
Authorities insisted the patient, aged in her 70s, died in hospital in April and not on its ramp, despite details contained in official documents outlining RAH emergency department ramping “incidents”.
A secret inquiry was launched but the details emerged on Monday after SA Health papers were tendered to a parliamentary committee.
Despite Premier Steven Marshall describing it as a “disturbing” story and the case being referred to the State Coroner for further investigation, the internal SA Health inquiry made no specific recommendations about the patient’s care. As another political row erupted over ramping, SA Health chief executive Chris McGowan on Monday gave evidence to State Parliament’s Budget and Finance Committee, which heard incidents had more than doubled over the past year.
Hearing details about the woman’s death, MPs were told there was “possible delay or failure to monitor” her between 10.40pm and 11.25pm before resuscitation failed.
The case, revealed after a Freedom of Information request by the doctors’ union, has been referred to Coroner David Whittle to investigate.
SA Health is building permanent screens outside ambulance bays.
Mr Marshall said on Monday the Government awaited any recommendations the Coroner) had “into this very, very sad story”. “This is clearly a very disturbing story but the information provided to me is that the person didn’t die in the back of an ambulance,” he said.
“They had been transferred to the hospital. There was a subsequent investigation into this case, which found there wasn’t an issue in terms of the practice.” Last month an elderly woman, 95, taken to Flinders Medical Centre with a non-life-threatening condition died after her ambulance was ramped for more than an hour due to overcrowding.
Health Minister Stephen Wade added: “We consider ambulance ramping as completely unacceptable and we are determined to eliminate it.” Committee chairman, Labor MLC Kyam Maher, on Monday said ambulances were delayed for 2303 hours last month due to ramping outside public hospitals, compared to 1132 hours in April last year.
In heated exchanges, Mr McGowan, said he was not aware of the RAH death until Monday.
But he dismissed Mr Maher for wrongly “assuming” ramping caused either death.
Asked when it would be solved, he replied “who knows” but he said those on ramps were assessed as being of lower risk and, if not, they were immediately taken into hospital.
“They have been brought to a hospital, you can assume they are under stress for some reason,” he said.
“In fact, listen, if you are going to have a heart attack, the best place to have it is in an ambulance outside a hospital, because you are going to get care faster anywhere else in Australia. That is not something we are setting out to achieve.”
Revealing SA Health’s budget had blown out last year by $451 million, Mr McGowan, who rides with paramedics every three months, admitted ramping was rising but he had no “running records”.
“We do acknowledge that ambulance ramping … is not good (or) something we aspire to,” he said. “It is something that is increasing. None of us like ramping. We are doing a lot of work to sort.”
He said his department’s concerns about “disproportionate” increases in patients travelling by ambulance to hospital EDs amid a 44 per cent increase in “non-urgent” paramedic jobs since 2016.
He said there were “green shoots” across the system.
Ambulance Employees Association state secretary Phil Palmer said: “This Right to Know campaign fits very neatly with us not getting to find out anything. No amount of talking, and BS, frankly is going to cover up the fact that were are in dire straights.”
Labor health spokesman Chris Picton said it was a “significant crisis”.