Metro hospitals now have more patients than beds – and more coming

SA Health has run out of metropolitan hospital beds – with the Covid peak yet to hit, and more than 100 people waiting in emergency departments for a ward bed.

SA Health has run out of inpatient beds for metropolitan patients.

At 9am, the metropolitan hospital system had a capacity of 2959 for all hospital inpatients, but there were 2929 inpatients admitted – and 138 patients who had been treated and admitted but stuck in emergency departments waiting for a bed to become available.

Six patients warehoused in EDs had been waiting more than 24 hours for a bed.

The situation is set to get much worse with the peak of the latest Covid wave still to hit and forecasts of 400 Covid hospital patients a day.

SA Health is scrambling to find more beds, including deferring all non-urgent overnight elective surgery in metropolitan hospitals – which is expected to free up around 40 beds a day – and trying to find appropriate accommodation for 120 NDIS clients who are medically fit for discharge but have nowhere suitable to go.

Health Minister Chris Picton has repeatedly said the government has opened every available bed and is looking for more including from private hospitals as it tries to deal with demand.

Health Minister Chris Picton says the government is working hard to find extra capacity. Picture: Mark Brake

“Since coming to government we have opened up every possible bed across the system and are urgently working to make more capacity,” Mr Picton said.

“More than 210 more beds have been opened up in the past couple of months.

“We now have the equivalent of a QEH-sized number of Covid patients across the system and approximately 1000 staff furloughed due to Covid, which is clearly putting hospitals under huge pressure.

“Our doctors, nurses, ambos and other health staff are working as hard as possible to care for the patients who need urgent hospital care. All South Australians thank them for their incredible efforts at this difficult time.

“Ultimately this shows why we need more capacity in the health care system which is why we have allocated to create 550 additional beds in last month’s state budget.”

The full house comes as average waiting time to be seen at Flinders Medical Centre’s ED blew out to eight hours on Thursday, and a state Labor MP called for masks to be mandatory in defiance of state government policy.

MP for Giles Eddie Hughes told regional ABC radio he wants the mandate to be considered.

“The two latest variants, they’re very much more transmissible than the previous viruses and so what I’m calling for is a consideration of a wider mask mandate,” Mr Giles said. “I believe that’s one of the simple things that we can do to dampen down the spread of the latest variants.”

Metro public hospitals such as the Royal Adelaide Hospital are full. Picture: Matt Loxton

Mr Picton has called on all South Australians to play their part by wearing masks, getting tested when symptomatic, updating vaccinations and only calling triple-0 or going to the ED in the case of an emergency.

He noted anyone older than 70 who tests positive can access antivirals to help keep them out hospital.

Patients may also be sent to peri-urban hospitals. Country hospitals have a capacity for 578 inpatients, and now have 356 inpatients admitted and three in emergency departments waiting for an inpatient bed.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ashton Hurn called on the government to “stop the spin and act.”

“We are facing a dangerous situation in our hospitals where there are more sick patients than available beds,” she said.

“This dysfunction is what forces sick patients to lay on the floor of emergency departments; with no free beds, there’s simply nowhere to go.

“Sick South Australians need reassurance they’ll get the emergency care they need, but right now securing a bed is just a gamble.”

Lyell McEwin hospital rarely ramps but today with record COVID numbers in SA hospitals ambulances are ramped here for >5hrs. SAAS remains at OPSTAT White, impacting patient safety across the community. Please help us this winter by wearing a mask 😷 and getting vaccinated 💉. pic.twitter.com/E9iVzZzW77

— Ambulance Employees Association (SA) (@aeasa1981) July 21, 2022

🚨Thur 10:30am: SA Ambulance OPSTAT White due to sustained triple zero demand and high acuity cases.

‘Operational capacity, capability and/or resources are insufficient to maintain effective service delivery for high acuity cases’ … ‘Patient safety is directly affected. pic.twitter.com/PkzUjdZtPx

— Ambulance Employees Association (SA) (@aeasa1981) July 21, 2022

The logjam is adding to ambulance ramping pressure as paramedics arrive with patients to find hospital EDs full.

The SA Ambulance Service has been forced to declare an “Opstat White” situation this week – insufficient resources to maintain effective service for high acuity patients.

Continues to be very tough at LMH ED, 51 patients waiting to be seen and waiting room “chockers. Imagine coming to work every day and your employer doesn’t provide you with all the tools to do the job and the job just happens to be saving peoples lives. pic.twitter.com/EyZHz14ki1

— SASMOA (@sasmoa4doctors) July 17, 2022

Public hospital doctors are frustrated with the workloads including a T-shirt protest by Royal Adelaide Hospital ED clinicians.

The government is running an advertising campaign urging people with non-urgent problems to consider alternatives to EDs such as seeing a GP, visiting a pharmacy or home care.

The dire situation comes after a rocky history of health policies in recent years which includes shutting the Repatriation General Hospital, building the $2.4bn Royal Adelaide Hospital, major investments in upgrading EDs and more than two years preparing to deal with the pandemic.