South Australia has recorded its worst ramping delays to date with more than 3,000 hours lost while ambulances waited outside hospitals last month.
New data released by the SA Ambulance Service has revealed ambulances spent 3,412 hours ramped during May.
The figure has more than doubled since February — when the former state government highlighted a 47 per cent decrease in ramping since peak delays were recorded in October last year.
Statistics also showed ambulance response times were the worst on record with only 61 per cent of priority one callouts seen on time and just 55 per cent of category two callouts seen on time over the past 12 months.
Health Minister Chris Picton said 80 new hospital beds would be opened as part of a 'winter demand strategy' to help address the pressure on the health system.
"South Australia hasn't had a winter strategy for the past four years," he said.
"But we think it's really important this year to have a winter strategy because we know we are combating very significant pressure on our health system from COVID, from the flu, from other respiratory illnesses, but also from the existing demand ... and that demand has been getting more and more."
Mr Picton said with more treatments for COVID-19 now available through general practitioners, the COVID Care Clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) would be downsized to make room for a new Acute Assessment Clinic.
"By creating these additional 12 beds in the acute assessment centre, this will help to keep the pressure off the emergency department, make sure people can get to those specialist surgeons or other clinicians inside the hospital in a much easier way," he said.
The beds are expected to become available within the next two weeks.
Mr Picton said eight new transit beds had been opened at the RAH in the past few days for patients transferred from other hospitals.
"That's another element where those patients were previously stuck in the emergency department, adding to the ramping pressure as well," he said.
The COVIDKIDS virtual service at the Women's and Children's Hospital will be expanded to treat all children with respiratory infections, with its name changing to the 24/7 Virtual Kids at Home service.
Premier calls for federal action on ramping
Earlier today, Premier Peter Malinauskas called on the federal government to play a bigger role in addressing ramping issues across the country.
He called for changes to national health funding agreements to allow GP centres to open right next to hospitals in an effort to reduce the number of patients going to emergency departments.
"We're certainly doing that, that's the levers I can control as the Premier but I've also got a responsibility as Premier to advocate for structural reform."
Mr Malinauskas spent Saturday night in the back of an ambulance shadowing paramedics in a bid to understand exactly how much pressure the health system is under.
Mr Malinauskas announced a recruitment drive for 350 new paramedics with some trainees starting this week.
Elderly woman left out in the cold deemed 'an oversight'
A report into the treatment of a 92-year-old woman who was forced to wait outside a hospital in Adelaide's north for two hours last month has found that it was "an oversight" by SA Health.
Maureen Wortley waited an hour for an ambulance at home after suffering a fall before her family was asked to drive her to the Lyell McEwin Hospital.
Once there, she was forced to wait for two hours in a tent outside where it was 12 degrees Celsius because the emergency department was full.
In the government-commissioned report, the author Christopher Baggoley AO found no further action was needed as the hospital had since introduced changes to avoid a similar occurrence.
"The situation was the result of an oversight by the LMHS, (Lyell McEwin Hospital) given that plans were in place to test patients internally in the event of hot weather, but not in the event of cold weather," Mr Baggoley said.
"It is unfortunate that this situation occurred, and it is reassuring that the Executive of NALHN (Northern Adelaide Local Health Network) has recognised this oversight and taken steps to ensure it does not happen again.
"I do not believe that other steps, beyond those described above, need to be adopted."
