Ramping kicks in with all Adelaide hospital EDs full just two days after new RAH opening
EVERY major public hospital in Adelaide has been on Code White today with demand at emergency departments higher than capacity, as the health system reels and ambulances ramp.
EVERY major public hospital in Adelaide has been on Code White today with demand at emergency departments higher than capacity, as the health system reels and ambulances ramp.
Just two days after the $2.3 billion Royal Adelaide Hospital opened, the health system is struggling to cope with heavy demand at emergency departments.
At 3pm today, paramedics reported ramping — or ‘external triaging’ — at the new hospital, although its status is unknown as it is not yet reporting on the SA Health public online ‘dashboard’ showing data on patient numbers being treated, the number waiting to be seen and average waiting time.
Across the city a similar story was playing out, including at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where there was an average two hour wait for treatment as 22 patients were treated and 12 were waiting in the 26-capacity ED, putting it on Code White.
In the south, Flinders Medical Centre’s 53-capacity ED was treating 70 patients with another 15 waiting to be seen.
In the north, Lyell McEwin Hospital’s 41-capacity ED was treating 53 patients with another 14 waiting to be seen.
In the northeast, Modbury Hospital’s 29-capacity ED was treating 32 patients with six waiting to be seen.
In the west, Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s 31-capacity ED was treating 29 patients with six waiting to be seen — a respite from an hour earlier when it was treating 39 patients.
Noarlunga Hospital, which is now bypassed by ambulances under the Transforming Health reforms, was treating 20 patients in its 24-capacity ED with 10 waiting to be seen and an average wait of 64 minutes — but half an hour later it was also on Code White as more and the wait time had blown out to 78 minutes.
The crush follows ramping across Adelaide yesterday which Ambulance Employees Association SA chief executive Phil Palmer, speaking on ABC Radio Adelaide, called one of the worst he had seen.
“It was a day from hell if you like and I don’t see it getting any better in the short term,” he said.
Paramedics queuing in hospital car parks told The Advertiser the ‘system is cooked’ and that they are now doing ‘internal triaging’ as well as ‘external triaging’ — looking after patients in ED corridors rather than in ambulances in car parks while they wait for beds and staff.