Elderly woman left waiting three hours in ambulance in excruciating pain at QEH

An elderly woman has spoken out after being ramped for more than three hours in terrible pain after a bus accident in the CBD.

A grandmother says she was forced to wait three and a half hours in a ramped ambulance at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after a scary bus accident last month.

Rita White, 83, said she was flung from her seat on to her back after a bus driver slammed on the brakes in the CBD.

Despite being in so much pain she was unable to move and being trigged as a priority three, it took 79 minutes for an ambulance to arrive – priority-three ambulances should arrive within half an hour.

She was then taken to the QEH, because the Royal Adelaide Hospital was too busy – even though it was 3km away – where she was ramped for three and a half hours.

She took aim at Premier Peter Malinauskus during a press conference with the Liberals on Monday.

“Peter, just imagine your sister, your mother had to wait six hours to get treatment,” she said.

Ramping hours hit near-record levels last month, with emergency patients stuck for 4095 hours in hospital carparks in March.

Adelaide grandmother Rita White says she was ramped for more than three hours outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after a fall on a bus. Picture: 7NEWS

Opposition leader David Speirs said Ms White was left shaken after the traumatic incident and was speaking out in the hope it would prevent other South Australians from enduring a similar experience.

“Peter Malinauskas promised South Australians he would ‘fix ramping’, but he’s since delivered the 22 worst months of ramping in our state’s history and he’s failing patients like Rita every day,” Mr Speirs said.

The Advertiser understands in the three hours leading up to Ms White’s arrival, the QEH emergency department had received 34 new patients, including the most serious category one and two patients, and 16 ambulances.

On Monday, the state government opened 20 new hospital beds at the Flinders Medical Centre, as Mr Malinauskas boasted more than 1400 extra health workers were now working in the state since he was elected in March 2022.

Health Minister Chris Picton said he invited Ms White to meet with him and senior clinicians last week but she had declined.

“To Rita and anybody affected by a delay in the health system, we of course apologise and insist this is why we are hiring these extra doctors and nurses and building these extra beds,” Mr Picton said.

“This is exactly the reason why … we continue to put more resources into health so people don't have those sorts of experiences.

“The offer is still there to meet with our doctors, nurses and ambulance officers.”