Elective surgery is being cancelled as the system buckles under demand

Hundreds of elective surgeries are being cancelled as the public health system buckles under record emergency arrivals in a worrying symptom of what’s to come.

Hundreds of patients have had their surgery abruptly cancelled this week as the health system buckles under demand.

Despite pouring billions of dollars into the system the state government faces a dire situation where demand continues to exceed supply and ramping continues outside clogged EDs.

Category two and three elective surgeries are cancelled across the Central Adelaide Local Health Network this week, taking in the Royal Adelaide Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, to free up space for emergency patients and ease ambulance ramping.

In February, ambulances spent 3981 hours ramped outside metro hospitals compared to 1522 hours in February 2022 in the lead up to the state election when Labor pledged to “fix” ramping.

SA Health no longer institutes system-wide code yellow emergencies where elective surgeries are cancelled to free space for emergency patients, instead it now has a system where hospitals can choose to quietly cancel elective surgeries of their own accord if they can’t handle demand.

As of Thursday there were 22,835 patients ready for elective surgery including 5382 deemed overdue.

These include people who had waited years for a consultation, to then be put on the wait list for elective surgery.

The surge in demand in what is usually one of the quietest times of the year has prompted the government to release its winter demand strategy as it braces for a horror cold weather period later in the year.

SA Health declined to answer questions from The Advertiser on how many patients have been affected and how long the cancellation order would last.

Allan Haigh, 78, of Port Wakefield who waited 15 hours unattended at Lyell McEwin Hospital with a suspected stroke. Picture supplied by family.

Brigitte Haigh who’s husband Allan waited 15 hours at Lyell McEwin Hospital to be seen, then went to the RAH where he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Pic RoyVPhotography

Executive director, operations, for CALHN Rachael Kay apologised to patients who had their elective surgery postponed this week.

“We acknowledge this can be distressing and inconvenient for patients,” she said. “Elective surgeries may be postponed for a variety of reasons, including a change in patient circumstances, surgeon availability or a lack of suitable inpatient beds for post-surgical care.

For example, the availability of intensive care beds can change at short notice due to emergency demand. No urgent elective surgeries (category 1) were cancelled.

We will work with patients to reschedule their surgery to a new date.”

The extent of the crisis was graphically shown by the case of Port Wakefield man Allan Haigh, 78, who was sent from Balaklava Hospital to the Lyell McEwin Hospital earlier this month with a suspected stroke.

Despite Balaklava doctors calling ahead, Mr Haigh was left waiting for 15 hours in the LMH ED unable to walk or see.

He finally left in disgust and when his wife Brigitte, 74, took him to the Royal Adelaide Hospital the next day he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

SA Health says “urgent” arrivals at ED are now the highest in 12 years and a 10 per cent increase on 2022-23, while category 1 emergency arrivals are 22 per cent higher than a decade ago.