Private hospitals are taking almost 100 public patients per night in the hopes of ‘fixing’ ramping

Private hospitals are taking on public patients to ease pressure on the public system and help “fix” ramping but SA Health can’t say how much it costs.

Almost 100 public patients a night are being put in metropolitan private hospitals as part of the government plan to “fix” ramping — but officials cannot say how much this is costing.

SA Health officials say it is not possible to provide a cost as the calculations vary by hospital, bed type, treatment type and so forth.

The deal is good for private hospital operators seeking to fill empty beds and takes pressure off the public system — including chronically crowded emergency departments — but may leave people with private health insurance struggling to find a private bed.

Answering inquiries from The Advertiser, SA Health says private hospitals where overnight beds are used include Ashford, Burnside, Calvary Adelaide, Calvary Central Districts, Ramsay Health Care (The Adelaide Clinic), Flinders Private, North Eastern Community and The Memorial hospitals.

Calvary Adelaide Hospital in Angas Street, helping ease pressure on the public system. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Royal Adelaide Hospital, being helped by the private sector. Picture: NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

“These facilities are part of an agreement with SA Health to assist in delivering public patient activity,” a SA Health statement says.

“The private hospital sector is an important partner for SA Health in delivering public health care during times of high need like the Covid-19 pandemic and recent periods of high demand.

“For the months of June 2024 to September 2024, an average of 95 beds were utilised in the private sector each day to assist with increased public hospital demand.

“During the statewide Code Yellow, the daily average of beds utilised in the private sector was in the same range.”

Code Yellow was a statewide SA Health internal emergency which ran for May 30 to August 16 as the public system buckled under intense pressure. Measures included widespread cancelling of most non-urgent elective surgery to free up ward beds in an effort to unblock clogged EDs.

Changes implemented under the Code Yellow which continue to operate include allowing individual local health networks to cancel non-urgent elective surgery if pressure is building on their EDs.

The public elective surgery list now stands at 22,241 ready for surgery, including 4664 listed as overdue.

The average of 95 beds occupied per night by public patients in private hospitals from June to September does not include those in for elective surgery, care awaiting placement and rehabilitation beds.

Private Healthcare Australia chief executive Dr Rachel David says if the private health system has capacity to treat patients from the public system in times of extreme demand, “it makes sense for governments to pay private hospitals for this.”

However she warned this must not impact on insured Australians’ access to private hospital care.