South Australia has just recorded its worst ambulance ramping ever. In July, patients waited a mind-boggling 5,866 hours beyond public hospitals. This number shatters the previous record of 5,539 hours, which was set last July in 2022. It signals a dangerous overall stress on the state’s healthcare sector. The horrifying growth in ramping hours is due to an influx of flu-sick people. A queue of elderly care patients is eagerly lingering to be released.
By the end of July, South Australia as a state had only reported 18,293 cases of flu. That’s an alarming jump from the 12,992 incidents reported in that same month last year. Clearly, early July was a low point for the state. We experienced the highest weekly flu incidence in six years, with a record 2,020 weekly cases and 208 weekly hospitalizations. The surge in flu patients has put a huge strain on emergency departments, causing hours-long wait times for emergency ambulance service.
Hospital System Under Pressure
On Monday, health officials including the opposition health minister Willy Kumagai raised alarm over the “immense pressure” on South Australia’s hospitals. As Dr. Peter Subramaniam pointed out, patients are stuck in the hospital hamster wheel. They are simply taking up beds that should be allocated to patients with urgent medical needs.
“We’re doing so because there are so many patients stuck in our hospital system waiting for a bed … they need to be in a federal aged care bed but we can’t get them into it.” – Dr. Peter Subramaniam
Chris Picton, South Australia’s Health Minister, soon realized the gravity of the situation. He cited the flu surge and the high number of aged care patients as principle drivers exacerbating the ramping situation. He noted that what’s happening now is akin to removing all of the patients in Modbury Hospital from the health system. This removal would be incredibly significant.
“It’s basically the size of an entire Modbury Hospital taken out of the system with people who don’t need to be in hospital anymore.” – Mr. Chris Picton
Innovative Solutions in Response to Ramping
The South Australian government is doing something about addressing the worsening issue of ambulance ramping. They are rolling out their hotel health service at the Pullman Hotel in Adelaide’s CBD. This new initiative is intended to help hospitals discharge patients more quickly by supplying them with other care settings. The hotel health service will double its capacity from 24 to 48 beds.
David Jackson, who had recently had ankle surgery, said he was pleased with the attention at the hotel. He said that feeling safe and “mentally at peace” was key during his points of recovery.
“I could be there [in hospital] for six weeks, six weeks in a bed that could be for someone that has [a] medical condition that needs more attention to.” – David Jackson
Picton highlighted the immediate demand for this strategy, given the current occupancy of hospitals. At the same time, Dr. Subramaniam cautioned that “treating hotel rooms as an enduring solution for this persistent pandemic emergency is a mistake.”
“The AMA welcomes any steps that reduces the pressure on our hospitals but let’s be clear this is not a solution, this is a workaround.” – Dr. Peter Subramaniam
Political Response and Future Outlook
This is shown in how the opposition has criticized the Labor government on not following through with their commitments on solving ambulance ramping. Our hospitals have faced the biggest challenges in their history from the recent flu epidemic and the crisis within aged care. In response, the health workforce is rallying, advocating for more investment in community services and resources to support GPs.
Dr. Subramaniam explained that improving the quality and availability of community-based services would address the need to stop over-utilizing costly acute care hospitals. This, he argues, could take the pressure off some of the pain points that are now agonizing an already beleaguered health care system.
“In increasing investment in our community services including our very important GPs would reduce the need for patients to return to acute care hospitals.” – Dr. Peter Subramaniam
As South Australia continues to grapple with these escalating healthcare challenges, officials remain focused on finding viable solutions to improve patient outcomes and manage hospital capacity effectively.
