Hospitals under pressure as all metro Emergency Departments declare code white

All metropolitan hospital emergency departments were treating more people than their capacity on Sunday, with waiting times exceeding two hours in the northern suburbs.

Ambulances ramping at Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Emergency departments across Adelaide were at capacity on Sunday following a flood of ambulance callouts and presentations to hospitals.

At 4pm, all metropolitan hospitals were in code white, meaning there were more patients being treated than the emergency departments’ maximum capacities.

Eight people had been kept waiting more than 24 hours for a bed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, while seven had waited more than 12 hours.

More than 100 people were waiting to be seen across all metropolitan hospitals.

The average waiting time at the Lyell McEwin Hospital was more than two hours while the only hospital with a waiting time of under an hour was the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

An SA health spokeswoman said the healthcare system had experienced a higher than expected level of activity and severity of cases leading to delays.

Opposition Health Spokesman Chris Picton said ramping had doubled in SA over the past 16 months.

“The Government’s plans to cut 1,140 SA health staff this year will only make the problem much worse,” he said.

“The Government has also delayed and downgraded the Lyell McEwin emergency upgrade and has plans to cut 170 beds from the RAH and QEH.”

In June, a cold snap put emergency departments under pressure with five of the seven major hospitals at code white.

Originally published as Hospitals under pressure as all metro Emergency Departments declare code white