SA health chief cool on works to ease crush at Royal ­Adelaide Hospital

A push for capital works at Royal ­Adelaide Hospital to ease chronic overcrowding has all but been ruled out.

Ambulances ramping at Royal Adelaide Hospital.

A push by paramedics for capital works at the $2.4 billion Royal ­Adelaide Hospital to ease chronic overcrowding they say is endangering lives has all but been ruled out by health authorities.

About 100 people attended SA Health’s “Summit to Stop Ramping” yesterday following a situation last Thursday where a record 20 ambulances were at one time unable to deliver patients and instead forced to wait outside the RAH because its emergency department was over capacity.

The problem — known as “ramping” — has been a regular issue at the 880-bed centre since it opened in September 2017.

Ambulance Employees Association secretary Phil Palmer said a flawed design was a key cause of the problem, and he ­repeated his call for the introduction of a transit lounge, similar to those at other major Australian hospitals.

Mr Palmer said the lounge would significantly improve ­patient flow and free up ambulance resources.

Lesley Dwyer, chief executive of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network that oversees the RAH, said she did not anticipate that capital works would be ­required to remedy ramping.

“So far there has been no evidence to say we need to undertake further capital works,” she said.

Ms Dwyer said the summit was a “positive first step” in addressing ramping.

“The potential for harm is ­always there and that’s why it’s so important that we now stop this (ramping),” she said.

“We know that this issue won’t be resolved in a day, but it’s a positive first step and I’m hopeful this will give us a road map to better, more efficient healthcare.”

Bernadette Mulholland from the South Australian Salaried Medical Officers Association said a focus of the summit was compartmentalising the issues that caused ramping.

“It was about how we can do this bit better and that bit better,” she said.

“There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, but it was more positive than I expected … it wasn’t just another talkfest.”

Meanwhile, SA Heath is investigating a salmonella outbreak linked to Angkor Bakery chain that has resulted in nine people being hospitalised.