Premier Peter Malinauskas ‘missing in action’ on man’s 10-hour ambulance wait
The state’s opposition say ambulance ramping is the ‘worst it’s ever been’ under the Malinauskas Labor government following the death of a disabled man who waited 10 hours for an ambulance.
South Australian opposition leader David Speirs has called on Health Minister Chris Picton to resign following the death of a disabled man who waited 10 hours for an ambulance.
Eddie, 54, called an ambulance three times from his home in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs for abdominal pain and vomiting on December 27.
In his first phone call to emergency services, a phone operator listed him at the lowest priority. However, in his third and final call he shot up to first priority with an ambulance arriving within four minutes. He died by the time paramedics arrived.
The Hectorville man’s death has prompted a formal review into the SA Ambulance Service.
The Ambulance Employees Association confirmed the death this week and said there was significant ramping across metropolitan hospitals.
SA Ambulance chief executive officer Rob Elliott confirmed there were operational issues on the night of Eddie’s death.
“On the night we were experiencing extremely high triple-0 demands and there was significant ramping as well, which gave us a lot of operational pressure,” Mr Elliott said.
“We had to prioritise the highest priority patients that were our triple-0 calls at the time.”
AEA industrial officer Josh Karpowicz said 17 ambulances were ramped at the Royal Adelaide Hospital on December 27,
“The night this occurred, there was over 50 cases pending across metropolitan Adelaide,” he said. “That’s 50 cases that the ambulance service can’t get to, because ambulances are caught up on the ramp. During the evening, we were told that at Flinders Medical Centre … patients in the waiting room were continually prioritised over ambulance patients, even though there was capacity within the hospital.”
SA Health chief executive officer Robyn Lawrence said the claim would be investigated.
“This clearly is completely opposite to the allegation we’ve had in the last couple of weeks from the medical staff – in that their claim is that ambulance patients are being prioritised over patients in the waiting room,” she said.
Mr Speirs said Mr Picton should resign and directed criticism at Premier Peter Malinauskas and his vow to fix ambulance ramping.
“Chris Picton has had too many chances from this Premier. It’s time that Peter Malinauskas came back to Adelaide, fronted up, spoke to South Australians about why he keeps on breaking his promises around healthcare,” Mr Speirs told the ABC.
The state Liberal leader also acknowledged Eddie’s death in a separate social media post.
“Peter Malinauskas promised to fix ramping but the truth is that it’s the worst that it’s ever been. South Australian lives are at risk and we have a Premier more interested in selfies and sporting events. We deserve better,” it read.
Opposition health spokeswoman Ashton Hurn accused Mr Malinauskas of being “missing in action” while the state’s health system was “on its knees”.
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