7 June 2022
The need for the massive injection of funds in last weeks state budget to support expansion of our hospital and health system was underlined by the most recent data on ambulance ramping.
South Australian ambulance response times were the worst on record this financial year with just 61 per cent of urgent Category 1 callouts seen on time (within eight minutes).
And only 55 per cent of Category 2 patients were seen within the 16-minute response time target.
In May, sick patients spent 3,412 hours ramped outside hospitals – up from 2,632 hours in April – due to blockages within hospital emergency departments.
Patients waiting for a ward bed are regularly exceeding 100 a day as flu, COVID and winter illnesses seriously impact on hospital demand. This week 132 patients were waiting for a ward bed in metropolitan hospitals on Monday morning – a figure just shy of the record of 139 patients, set twice in May last year.
In order to meet increasing demand, the State Government announced on Monday a new Winter Demand Strategy including 80 new hospital beds and a new hospital Acute Assessment Centre which will open in a fortnight to take pressure off emergency departments.
Labor says the 80 extra beds come on top of 180 more beds that have already been opened in the past few weeks, as well as boosted virtual care and community care to avoid having to go to hospital, and free flu vaccination funded by the State Government in addition to expanded COVID vaccine campaigns.
To support families during the winter months, the Women’s and Children’s Hospital is now expanding its COVIDKIDS program, which offers virtual care services, to cover all respiratory illnesses so parents can get the help they need for their children 24/7 without needing to go to the Emergency Department.
The Winter Demand Strategy is part of the Government’s long-term investments in rolling out 554 more beds across the health network.
The Malinauskas Government invested an additional $2.4 billion in health in last week’s state budget with intent to additional staff over the next four years.
“There’s no doubt the previous Government had failed to properly resource the health system. We inherited a hospital system under enormous strain with flu cases now only adding to increasing demand,’’ Health Minister Chris Picton said.
“This is the first winter since the pandemic hit that our health system will be required to manage both COVID-19 and the flu, as well as normal winter demand, and we know this will be a challenge.’’