SA emergency departments hitting capacity

There are fears South Australia could be on the brink of a health crisis with the emergency departments at four major hospitals hitting capacity.

Figures show some patients are being forced to wait more than 24 hours for a bed.

Patrick O’Malley’s 92-year-old mother was sent to the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) on Monday.

He claims she waited in the emergency department for 11 hours before being transferred to a short stay area.

“Wednesday morning, I come in, ask for my mother, she’s back in the emergency area,” he told 7News.

He said it took another eight hours for her to be moved into a ward.

The RAH said the shuffling occurred while attempting to transfer Mrs O’Malley to a private hospital at the family’s wishes.

But figures show she is not alone.

At each major hospital, more than a dozen patients were waiting for a bed at 11.30am today – many for more than 12 hours, and two for more than a day.

On Tuesday, 15 patients were wheeled into the corridors at the RAH amid unprecedented demand.

“Throughout the whole winter we have a range of strategies that we implement,” Jenny Richter from SA Health said.

And with flu cases already up on this time last year, the pressure is tipped to increase.

“Any hospital system in the world will have to grapple with big peaks in demand, what we are responding to that with is a new hospital,” Premier Jay Weatherill said.

But critics say the new RAH won’t solve the current problems, instead, it will lead to more ambulance ramping, like that seen at Flinders Medical Centre.

“There aren’t the corridors to hide people in,” Andrew Murray from the Salaried Medical Officers Association said.

“In Flinders you get a better idea of what’s going on because there is nowhere to hide people and the new RAH is the same design.”

And in a blow for the north eastern suburbs, Modbury Hospital’s paediatric ward has been earmarked for closure.

Patients would have to be transferred to the Lyell McEwin Hospital.