Flinders Medical Centre staff at boiling point over ED capacity
FMC workers say bully tactics are being deployed to try to make the overstretched system work, while a broken ‘dashboard’ gives false readings on ED capacity.
SA News
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Frustration is reaching “boiling point” at Flinders Medical Centre where official figures continue to show spare capacity in the often overwhelmed emergency department.
As revealed by The Advertiser, publicly available data updated hourly by SA Health online continues to show FMC as having 71 ED beds following its recent expansion.
However about a dozen beds are being used elsewhere as part of a trial, with doctors now referring to them as “virtual beds.”
The result is the ED appearing to have spare capacity even when full.
On Monday at 7.30pm the dashboard showed 60 people being treated in the 71 bed ED, indicating 11 spare beds, yet the ED was on Code White which signals it is overcapacity, and there was a three hour average wait to be seen with 37 people in the waiting room.
ED doctors at the Royal Adelaide Hospital have started wearing protest T-shirts, to show the pressure they are under but FMC doctors privately say some are so fatigued they ready to quit.
They also claim a culture of bullying is underway to try to force efficiencies in a hospital which has had acting leaders in its three most senior roles for almost a year.
The Advertiser last year reported Southern Adelaide Local Health Network chief executive Susan O’Neill had quit suddenly, ending on June 30, 2021 and being replaced by chief operating officer David Morris who then left in August.
Chief financial officer Wayne Gadd has acted in the role for 12 months, his role filled by Sarah Woon in an acting capacity and John O’Connor has been acting chief finance officer.
Queensland’s West Moreton Health chief executive Kerrie Freeman has just been confimed to take up the SALHN leadership.
A recent snap investigation by the SA Salaried Medical Officers Association sanctioned by SafeWork SA found patients being treated in chairs and allegations staff were being pressured to unload patients from ambulances and leave them in corridors.
Doctors said this simply resulted in “internal ramping” and claimed they were “hounded by the executive to get patients off the ramp.”
SA Health says there is a trial underway to improve the flow of patients presenting to the ED and stress that no beds have actually closed.
“Once the initial trial has been evaluated and ongoing changes to the bed configuration are confirmed, the SA Health dashboard will be updated accordingly,” it says.
“The ED has flexible spaces that are used, as required, to assist with patient flow during periods of high demand, where patients are under clinical supervision.”
Health Minister Chris Picton said: “The important fact that is indisputable is all these beds are open at Flinders Medical Centre.
“Following the independent Monaghan Report which said the Liberals’ changes at Flinders made the flow problems worse, work is being undertaken to trial reclassifying some beds from emergency to inpatient – all of which remain open.
“I am advised the Department is updating the website to make it clear the work being undertaken at Flinders Medical Centre to address the recommendations of the Monaghan Report.”
However opposition health spokeswoman Ashton Hurn said it was deeply concerning that the dashboard was understating pressure at EDs.
“Chris Picton needs to fix up the dashboard and ensure that it accurately reflects the number of beds available,” she said.
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