AMA warns of the ‘new normal’ as ramping continues to rise in South Australia

With SA patients spending near five years on ambulance ramps, ramping, ED wait-times and postponed surgeries have almost become the “new normal”.

South Australian patients spent the equivalent of five years stuck on ambulance ramps in 2023-34 and the situation is “getting worse” the Australian Medical Association says.

Their new “Ambulance Ramping Report Card” confirms regular reports by The Advertiser that ramping now is on the rise for the fifth consecutive month.

The report shows the total number of hours South Australians spent on ambulance ramps has nearly tripled in five years, increasing from 15,239 hours in the 2019-20 financial year to 45,399 hours in 2023-24.

This equates to more than five years lost on ambulance ramps.

AMA SA president Dr John Williams at Mount Gambier Hospital. Picture supplied by AMA.

Australian Medical Association state president, Dr John Williams, said the data puts the extent of the problem in perspective.

“It’s no secret ramping has been getting worse. The AMA’s Ambulance Ramping Report Card highlights just how bad things have become in a relatively short space of time,” Dr Williams said.

“My concern is that ramping, long ED wait-times and postponed surgeries have almost become the ‘new normal’.

“We can’t lose sight of the real people reflected in these figures. We can’t lose sight of the 80-year-old grandmother stuck on the ramp for two hours or the mental health patient, who’s confused and distressed, waiting for emergency care.”

He noted SA Health aims to transfer 90 per cent of cases from ambulance paramedics to hospital clinical staff within 30 minutes.

However, the report card indicates just 47.3 per cent of patients were transferred within that time frame in 2023-24.

Health Minister Chris Picton said the government is building a “bigger health system – including constructing hundreds more beds, expanding alternative care services and hiring thousands more healthcare workers, above attrition.”

“In our first three years, we’ve invested an extra $7.8bn into our health system, including record investment in new infrastructure to deliver more than 600 extra hospital beds,” Mr Picton said.

“At the same time, we seen a significant increase in the number of patients stuck in our hospitals waiting for a Commonwealth aged care bed. Right now, there are a record 273 patients who are medically ready to leave hospital but are waiting for an aged care bed – a 145 per cent increase in less than 18 months.”

Opposition heath spokeswoman Ashton Hurn said the latest data confirmed what patients and paramedics were experiencing every day: record ramping under Labor and hours spent stuck outside our hospitals waiting to get in.

“We need a system-wide approach to health, including a much better focus on general practice, mental health and boosting our workforce,” Ms Hurn said.

Originally published as AMA warns of the ‘new normal’ as ramping continues to rise in South Australia