RAH safety fears spark union call as hospital queues hit 9 hours

Besieged doctors have called on the union to inspect SA’s flagship hospital as huge queues are reported at emergency departments across Adelaide.

Besieged clinicians have called the doctors’ union to inspect the Royal Adelaide Hospital over alleged safety breaches three times this week as the health system continues to buckle under stress.

Wait times of up to nine hours were recorded in metropolitan Adelaide hospitals this week, ramping continued and on Wednesday morning there were 41 patients who had been treated but were stuck in metropolitan EDs waiting for an appropriate bed for 12-24 hours or more – blocking access for new arrivals.

SASMOA Chief Industrial Officer, Bernadette Mulholland. Picture: Matt Loxton

At 11am on Wednesday SA Health had capacity for 2802 inpatients in metropolitan hospitals — it had 2801 inpatients in beds and 111 people waiting, jamming EDs.

RAH doctors say the situation is “dire” in the $2.4bn flagship hospital.

The Malinauskas government which promised to “fix ramping” is yet to release September’s ramping data after ambulances stuck in hospital car parks reached new levels over winter.

SA Salaried Medical Officers Association (SASMOA) senior industrial officer Bernadette Mulholland warned the situation it likely to get worse next month.

She is preparing reports for SafeWork SA based on inspections done at the RAH ED this week in response to cries for help from frontline staff.

While noting much of the wider community seems to think “Covid is over” she said a predicted surge in November would take a toll on hospitals.

“It hits staff and it also hits families so people have to take time off to care for loved ones,” Ms Mulholland said.

“It looks like we will see another surge of Covid in November so the problems we are seeing are not going away.

Pretty grim this afternoon on the SA Health ED dashboard- doctors in RAH ED just asked for safety inspection stating it’s pretty “dire” with 109 patients in the ED.

— SASMOA (@sasmoa4doctors) October 3, 2022

🚨Mon 5:50pm: SAAS OPSTAT White across Adelaide due to ramping (TOC) and uncovered emergencies (P2).

‘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/XtIa5FYr5W

— Ambulance Employees Association (SA) (@aeasa1981) October 3, 2022

“We are in a situation where people really need to look after their own health, and go to their GPs and pharmacists if it is not an emergency.

“Covid is not going away and people still need to think about hygiene and taking care, especially around elderly relatives.”

Ms Mulholland noted the Lyell McEwin Hospital where wait times have blown out to nine hours this week is seeing a lot of “walk-in” patients due to difficulty getting ambulances or accessing GPs.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ashton Hurn said the situation was “hugely concerning.”

“This bed clog is bringing our health system to standstill leaving doctors and nurses with no other option but to cry for help, and these pleas for support have seemingly gone unanswered for months now,” she said.

“Despite Labor promising to fix ramping it is the worst it’s ever been, and if patients aren’t stranded in the back of ambulances, they’re now jam-packed in ED waiting rooms with enormous wait times.”

There were also 3320 people listed as overdue for elective surgery in metropolitan public hospitals.

A government spokesman acknowledged clinicians at the RAH and other hospitals are under significant pressure, blaming lack of investment by the previous government.

“The Central Adelaide Local Health Netwowrk (CALHN) is working with frontline staff at the hospital to help manage increased demand, with the ED experiencing a spike in presentations over the past week,” the spokesman said.

“A lack of primary care is also an issue – people are finding it increasingly difficult to see a doctor, and when their condition gets worse they have no other option but to get hospital-level care.

“That’s why we have opened every bed possible to take pressure off our hospitals and free up EDs while finding more ways to discharge NDIS and aged care patients to reduce bed block and improve patient flow.

“Labor has committed a record $2.4bn in health to open more than 550 additional beds, recruit 400 more doctors and nurses, employ 350 extra ambos and build and upgrade key infrastructure across the state to provide the capacity our healthcare system needs.

“We are also doing more to attract and retain frontline staff – doubling graduate nurse and midwife recruitment from 600 to 1200 next year, on top of 266 extra full-time equivalent roles already hired between March and June this year.”