SA EDs run out of beds as focus around the state on Gather Round

The Romans had bread and circuses to distract the masses and it may be a hard call, but as the hugely successful Gather Round unfolds, hospital EDs are overflowing and ambos are ramping.

While the fun and excitement of Gather Round dominates public attention, try not to get sick or injured — metropolitan public hospital emergency departments have repeatedly run out of beds this week.

Combined ED capacity of the seven major hospitals is 333 however at times during the week embattled frontline clinicians have been treating more than 400 patients.

Patients have been lined up in trolleys, in corridors, average wait times have stretched out to hours and ambulances have been ramped as hospitals struggle to cope.

In a typical snapshot, at 4pm on Thursday there were 397 patients being treated despite official capacity being 333.

Ambulances parked at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Ramping Picture: NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

There were 123 people in EDs who had been treated and were waiting for an appropriate bed, including 16 who had been waiting more than 24 hours, with the access block flowing through to cause ramping.

The system is subject to ebbs and flows as patients are moved out of EDs and new patients arrive, by ambulance or by their own means.

Demand had dropped a little by Friday morning but not for long — at 3pm demand had again topped supply with clinicians listed as treating 377 patients in the 333 capacity system.

There were 20 people in ERs who had been warehoused for more than 24 hours waiting for a suitable bed elsewhere.

Every hospital ED apart from the Women’s and Children’s Hospital was operating above official capacity, such as Lyell McEwin Hospital treating 75 people in its 57-capacity ED.

The demand comes as warm weather continues through autumn, with little sign of the cold weather which sparks a surge of winter ills and heightened demand on the health system.

It also comes with ramping far from “fixed” — in March it rose for the fifth month in succession to hit 4134 hours, and ambulance response times dipped for the second month in a row.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ashton Hurn said the ramping crises was incredibly troubling for South Australians, accusing the Premier of focusing on other things.

“What is unfolding in our hospitals right now is incredibly concerning; record ramping, overcrowded emergency departments and frontline health workers under enormous stress,” she said.

“It’s certainly not what South Australians voted for and raises serious questions as to whether the Premier has taken his eye off the ball when it comes to health and his signature promise to fix ramping.”

Health Minister Chris Picton said work was being done to increase hospital capacity throughout the state.

“Our hospitals have been full every day for the past decade which is why they need the extra beds we are building,” he said.

“The Liberals cut beds, made hundreds of nurses redundant, brought in corporate liquidators and left the health system to languish.”