SA Ambulance Service sends taxis to 36 Triple-0 calls per week

SA’s ambulance ramping crisis could be even worse, new figures suggest, as it’s revealed just how often SA now relies on cabbies instead of paramedics.

SA Ambulance Service is transporting thousands of emergency callers to care by taxi amid the ramping crisis, at an average rate of around 36 patients per week.

From January 2021 to April 2023, SAAS transported 4313 patients via taxi at a cost of $121,686, information released to The Advertiser shows.

The average cost was $28.21 per trip.

This figure covers metropolitan and regional areas, including cases where taxis were arranged to go to care other than a emergency department, following clinical assessment via telehealth or face-to-face.

Taxi use for low priority callers frees up ambulances and paramedics for more urgent cases in times of high demand — ramping may have been much worse if taxis were not used for such patients.

Ramping hit a record 4285 hours in November, easing back to 3595 hours in December — the month when 54-year-old disabled man Eddie of Hectorville died after waiting 10 hours for an ambulance after initially being triaged as a low priority. An ambulance arrived within four minutes when he was upgraded to the most urgent category.

SA Ambulance Service is offering some non-urgent patients who call triple-0 a taxi when demand for ambulances is high. Picture: Emma Brasier

The use of taxis by SAAS started in late 2020 to help the large number of patients who call triple-0 but after assessment are determined to not need an ambulance but may not have private transport to get to their non-urgent care.

A SAAS statement says taxis “are not used as substitutes for ambulances.”

“Instead, they are on occasion provided to patients who have received clinical assessment from a specialist paramedic and require transportation to access healthcare but do not require an emergency ambulance response,” it states.

“Ambulance dispatch is based on the urgency and severity of the medical situation, prioritised to ensure those with the most urgent needs receive an emergency response first.

“Our contracted taxi providers adhere to strict patient safety requirements, and SAAS has established procedures guiding staff on the safe use of taxis for patient transport.

‘While we acknowledge extended wait times are unacceptable, we are actively addressing concerns. Overall, we’re observing improved emergency response times, bolstered by the prompt addition of 171 new staff under the 350 more ambos initiative.”

A government spokesman said the use of taxis to transport patients to hospital was introduced under the former Liberal government.

“The Malinauskas government is making a record investment in South Australia’s ambulance service through 36 new ambulances, 350 more ambos, and 10 brand new stations across the state,” he said.

“This has led to big improvements in Priority 1 and Priority 2 ambulance response times. The Priority 1 response time for December of 76.2 per cent of metropolitan Priority 1 incidents reaching within the target time frame of eight minutes is the highest percentage in more than three years, while the P2 response time of 64.5 per cent arriving within 16 minutes was the highest rate since April 2021.

“We are also opening 150 additional hospital beds this year, with more to come online in 2025, to ensure more capacity in our hospitals and freeing up ambulance resources to respond to community needs.

“The State Government would like to reassure the community that taxis are arranged by SAAS as an alternative transport for people not requiring emergency ambulance transport only following a clinical assessment and when deemed appropriate.”

Stephanie and Neville Grovermann at their home in Sefton Park. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe / NCA NewsWire

Stephanie Grovermann of Sefton Park was offered a taxi when she rang for an ambulance for her husband Neville, 75, after he fainted and was told the wait for an ambulance would be two hours.

When they arrived at the Royal Adelaide Hospital by taxi — which SAAS booked and paid for — there were at least 10 ambulances ramped but she said patients were being seen “within a reasonable time frame.”

“I realise that our experience was not the norm but cannot praise the ED nurses and doctors enough for their compassionate and efficient care – they are the heroes in this ramping crisis,” she told The Advertiser. “The ambulance service kept us informed while we waited.”

An Opposition spokesman said: “A taxi should never be used as a substitute when an ambulance is needed, and patient safety must always come first. On Peter Malinauskas’ watch ramping is the worst it’s ever been and increasing taxi use should not be used a Labor government strategy to combat that.”