City hospital emergency departments in meltdown as they are hit by record demand during searing hot January

Major city hospitals are reeling from record demand as hot weather presentations outstrip even the worst figures registered in the depths of winter.

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Major city hospitals are reeling from record demand as hot weather presentations outstrip even the worst figures registered in the depths of winter.

Both the Royal Adelaide Hospital and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital emergency departments had their busiest month on record in January as the searing heat and an ageing population fuelled demand.

The RAH ED had an average of 237 presentations per day, in comparison to the busiest month last winter, August, when the average number of presentations was 215 per day.

In total there were 7349 presentations to the RAH ED which saw it regularly hit Code White, meaning it treated more patients than ED capacity.

Ambulances are banked up in the emergency section of the Royal Adelaide Hospital last year. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

At The QEH there were 4075 presentations, or an average of 131 patients arriving per day in January, in comparison to its busiest winter month, also August, when the daily average was 120.

Ongoing demand into February has seen chronic ambulance ramping amid warnings from the ambulance union that lives are at risk as ambulances are stuck in carparks.

The Ambulance Employees Association has taken SA Health and the SA Ambulance Service to the SA Employment Tribunal over workload pressure and overtime.

The parties have been given six weeks to try to resolve the issues.

Ambulances ramped at the RAH in February. Picture: Ambulance Employees Association Facebook page

Winter and the flu season is traditionally the busiest period for hospitals, triggering the winter demand strategy of opening extra beds, including 29 at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre last winter.

These extra beds were wound down as summer approached and presentations were expected to drop, but never did.

Lesley Dwyer, chief executive of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network which covers both the RAH and The QEH, said the avalanche of demand continues.

She is planning a summit seeking ideas on ways to ease demand and stop ramping, where ambulances and paramedics get stuck in carparks, sometimes for hours, caring for patients while waiting to get into the ED.

That means fewer ambulances are available for urgent calls.

A message written on the side of an ambulance ramped at the Royal Adelaide Hospital last year.

“The impact of this busy period is still being felt within the ED and there are many lessons to be learnt that can be used towards better planning,” Ms Dwyer said.

“To that end, we will be holding a ‘Summit to Stop Ramping’ this week, bringing together staff from across the network, SA Ambulance Service colleagues, community health professionals and international experts to find solutions with real action that will relieve this pressure.”

She thanked hospital staff and paramedics “for their hard work and commitment to providing the very best care to our patients in the face of this unprecedented demand”.

Latest data for Flinders Medical Centre and the Lyell McEwin Hospital was unavailable on Sunday, but both have regularly been operating over capacity so far this year.

Ms Dwyer and KordaMentha administrators will on Monday appear at a parliamentary committee on plans to control CALHN’s ballooning budget.