SA Health releases new campaign to stop people filling up emergency departments unnecessarily

This is the new campaign to make you ask yourself — do I really need to go to emergency?

Teenagers and young adults are the target of a new campaign urging people to consider whether they really need to visit a hospital emergency department.

Health authorities say the television and social media campaign is needed because up to 70 per cent of people who end up in EDs do not need to be admitted to hospital.

Amid a horror flu season, Health Minister Stephen Wade hopes it will ease pressure on the stretched system.

He said a campaign that began in 2015, featuring a doctor reminding South Australians “emergency departments are for emergencies”, had reduced unnecessary visits to EDs by 7 per cent.

The new campaign features an exchange of text messages between a family when the son goes to an ED after spraining his ankle. The ad asks viewers, especially those aged 18 to 34, to consider “Is it really an emergency?”.

Of the 70 per cent of ED patients who are not admitted, about 30 per cent do need a “hospital level” diagnosis for their concern but can be treated elsewhere. The remaining 40 per cent could have gone straight to a GP, pharmacist or other community health service. Common complaints among that group include colds, flu or hay fever, sprains, rashes, grazes, gastro, constipation or persistent headaches.

Lyell McEwin Hospital emergency department nurse consultant Amy Jacobs said people could also call a locum or after-hours clinic.

“Unfortunately, when patients present to an ED that maybe don’t need to be here, it does push out our waiting times,” she said.

“People maybe haven’t explored other options.”

South Australia’s health system is grappling with a horror flu season which has killed at least 40 people and affected about 18,000 others.

At the same time, Mr Wade conceded it was “concerning to see” a slight slowing in ambulance response times over the past financial year.

However, he said ambulance ramping at hospitals had eased in recent months and the Government had put in place measures including keeping open hospital beds earmarked for closure and trial programs enabling patients to discharge more quickly from hospital.