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ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
SA ambulance ramping surges to third-highest level on record as government 'falls desperately short' of its promise
South Australian patients spent 4,791 hours ramped in ambulances outside public hospitals in May — more than one thousand hours higher than the previous month — as the health system continues to struggle despite billions in extra funding. Two days after releasing a state budget with $1.9 billion in additional money for health, the state government on Saturday published data revealing May was the third-worst month for ambulance ramping in SA since records began in July 2017. The amount of time ambulances spent waiting outside public hospitals to discharge patients increased from 3,700 hours in April to 4,791 in May. The result is roughly in line with the 4,773 hours recorded in May 2024, which preceded a winter surge that saw ramping reach record levels in June (5,539) and July (5,284) of that year. Health Minister Chris Picton said public hospitals were under "significant pressure" last month. "But we've got people stuck in hospital that don't need to be there because they're waiting for a federal aged-care bed." There are 243 elderly patients in SA's public hospitals awaiting an aged care bed, according to the state government. The Royal Adelaide Hospital recorded the biggest spike in ramping hours last month, jumping from 1,194 to 1,698 hours, while the Flinders Medical Centre also spiked from 1,021 to 1,318. Ambulance response times to call-outs also worsened slightly in May. The percentage of priority two call-outs met within the benchmark 16 minutes decreased from 67.7 per cent in April to 60 per cent in May. Priority one call-outs — triaged for a response within eight minutes — stayed the same, with 72.3 per cent of calls met on time. The Malinauskas government highlighted that the May 2025 response times are significantly improved on its early months in office — in May 2022, 54.9 per cent of priority one call-outs and 34.8 per cent of priority two call-outs were being met on time. The head of South Australia's paramedics union said today's ramping figures have given him "grave concerns" about the winter months ahead. Paul Ekkelboom, general secretary of the Ambulance Employees Association (AEA), said his members were also "very frustrated" with the situation. "I get messages every day from regional and metropolitan crews about the extended … hospital ramp times they're having," he said. Asked about the outlook for the next few months, Mr Ekkelboom said: "I've got some grave concerns, obviously." He said the current ramping levels were only around 700 to 800 hours below last year's record numbers and "we've not even hit winter". "If something's not done dramatically, then I think it's going to be even worse than what we saw last year, and that's detrimental to people in the community," he said. The Malinauskas government has invested an additional $9 billion in the state's health system since coming to office in March 2022, according to the state budget papers released on Thursday. Labor won the 2022 election with a core pledge to "fix the ramping crisis" through new spending on hospital beds, ambulances and staff. Opposition health spokesperson Ashton Hurn said the government was falling "desperately short" of its promise. "Labor are now three quarters of the way through their term in office and we're yet to see any green shoots when it comes to delivering on their number-one election promise which was to fix ramping," she said. "We really need to move away … from looking at the statistics here and actually remember what this means for people. "What this means is that sick South Australians are left stranded outside of our hospitals desperate to get in for the care that they need." But the Health Minister said the government was "throwing the kitchen sink" at the problem. "We are opening additional beds which has been called for for years and years and years. "We're putting extra into mental health which has been called for for years and years and years, we've hired an additional, above attrition 2,800 extra doctors, nurses, paramedics and allied health professionals. "But we've got a blockage at the other end of the system that is depriving us of that, so every bed that we're opening is pretty much being filled with an aged care resident that can't get into aged care." Thursday's state budget revealed that demand on public health services is estimated to have grown by more than 4.5 per cent in 2024-25, with the government stumping up $1.7 billion over five years just to cope with increasing demand. The state government says it is building and opening more than 330 new hospital beds across Adelaide in 2024 and 2025.
Daily Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Telegraph
Caleb Bond: Ham sandwich junk food ads don't make kids fat
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News. Sometimes someone comes up with a solution to a problem and it's so simple that you can't believe anyone didn't think of it before. As it happens, someone has had one of those moments when it comes to obesity. Yes, the state government has instantaneously shrunk our waistlines by banning ham sandwiches from being shown on buses, trains and trams – if it's part of an advertisement for a specific processed meat product. Why didn't I think of that one? Probably because it's ridiculous and it won't turn a single overweight person into a gym junkie, but let's do it anyway because it's better to look like you're doing something than admit you don't know what to do. Ham sandwiches, if part of processed meat ads, will be given the flick from July 1. Product ads for chocolate, lollies, other confectionary, desserts, ice creams, soft drinks and chips will all be banned too on public transport. South Australian Health Minister Chris Picton wants someone to think of the children. Picture: Kelly Barnes Presumably South Australian icons Vili's and Balfours will be prevented from peddling their wares too, what with all that unhealthy pastry. So now you can't advertise the two greatest threats to public health – cigarettes and ham sandwiches. Perfect. Why can we not be treated like adults and trusted to make up our own minds? If someone is so hooked on chocolate that they can't possibly drive past a bus without being compelled to pull into the next servo and satiate their addiction, then they have much bigger problems than advertising. The nanny state doesn't trust you to make your own decisions. Worse than that, they don't even trust you to look at a bag of chips for fear you might eat it. Something tells me this won't slow the sale of chips or lollies or ham sandwiches. We're a nation of overweight and obese people and ads on buses have precious little to do with it. Australians are obese because they don't take the time to eat properly or exercise enough. And I'm as guilty as anyone – I power through vast quantities of red wine, gin, whisky, Coke Zero and blue cheese every week and I'm probably 5kg over what I'd like to be (though not overweight) but I enjoy doing it and that's my prerogative. We live vastly more sedentary lifestyles than we did a century ago, with much incidental exercise and physical labour replaced by machines. But, according to Health Minister Chris Picton, this isn't about the adults – it's about the impressionable kiddies being groomed into a lifetime of bad habits because they saw a jube on the side of a tram. Except it is about the adults, because the kids aren't feeding themselves. But the cries come that children see ads for chips and then they pester their parents for chips until they relent. McDonald's advertising on a bus in Adelaide. Picture: Matt Loxton A Hungry Jacks advertising on an Adelaide bus. Picture: Matt Loxton By that logic they should be locked behind grey cabinet doors like cigarettes because seeing them in the supermarket would have much the same effect. How about telling kids to be quiet and eat what they're given? It's not Daddy Government's job to parent your children for you. If your children are eating garbage, it's not the fault of Big Junk Food – it's yours. I ate my fair share of chips and lollies and other crap as a kid but, when I started my cadetship at The Advertiser aged 17, I was still only 55kg. Unlike many children today, I wasn't raised by an electronic screen. Yank the little ones off the iPad and send them down to the local park to kick the footy around and burn off some calories. Personal responsibility seems to be an increasingly foreign concept. Originally published as Junk food ads on buses didn't make your kids fat - you did | Caleb Bond
News.com.au
10-05-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Hospital patients sent to luxe hotel amid ramping crisis
One Australian state is putting hospital patients into a luxury hotel as it scrambles to deal with a health crisis. South Australia's Minister for Health Chris Picton announced an unprecedented deal between SA Health, Amplar Health Home Hospital and the Pullman Adelaide — a five-star hotel in Adelaide's CBD on Hindmarsh Square. An entire floor of the plush hotel has been dedicated to 80 low maintenance patients who would otherwise be occupying much-needed beds in metro hospitals. It came in response to bed shortages and ambulance ramping issues across South Australia, primarily because of older patients being ready for discharge but having to wait in hospital for days or weeks for a spot to open up in an aged care facility. While Mr Picton has not revealed the cost of putting up patients in the Pullman, he indicated it was cheaper than housing patients at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. However, a peak medical body has slammed the move as a bandaid solution to a larger problem in the state. Dr John Williams, President of the South Australian arm of the Australian Medical Association, said in a statement 'this is not a long-term solution to our health crisis'. 'At the federal level we need increased investment in aged care, to reduce wait times for federal aged care beds.' The state's health minister said in February there was a 'staggering' amount of older patients — 253 — 'stuck' in hospital waiting for a placement in an aged care home. 'We're looking at every opportunity to safely expand our bed capacity, reduce pressure on our EDs and provide patients with access to high-quality care,' Mr Picton said when he announced the change. A similar model is already underway in Queensland to help free up beds. The initiative has already seen 55 patients discharged from the Pullman in the last two months the initiative has been running. Ashleigh Mann is one of the patients currently living in the luxe hotel after falling down and fracturing her femur and being unable to return home due to stairs there. The 46-year-old 9 NEWS she has been at the Pullman for the past month. The alternative would have been occupying a bed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. 'They come and bring my coffee in the morning, they know exactly what I want,' Ms Pullman said. Figures show that South Australia's ambulances were stuck in hospital car parks for 3700 hours in April. Although this was down from March, which came in at 4134 hours, the Australian Medical Association said it was still far from ideal. 'The past 12 months were marked by record ambulance ramping and a code yellow which shut down essential planned surgery for weeks on end,' Williams said in February. 'January's ramping figures suggest the bed block problem is not getting better.'
7NEWS
30-04-2025
- Health
- 7NEWS
Health Minister apologises to hundreds of women affected by botched product
The South Australian government has issued a formal apology to women affected by botched mesh products made by Johnson and Johnson, four years after a state parliament inquiry. The mesh implant was used by doctors to treat women who have pelvic floor disorders, including stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, which can happen after childbirth. Some implants were banned in 2017 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and a federal senate inquiry in 2018 found women who were suffering after having the mesh inserted were 'ignored' and 'treated appallingly' when they complained about the mesh. More than 10,000 Australian women registered for the class action launched by law firm Shine against medical device giant Johnson and Johnson, reaching a $300m settlement in 2022. In 2021 South Australia held its own inquiry, hearing from many injured women and their families, finding that the damage caused by failed mesh devices was likely to be more widespread than it was thought to be by the health system and medical profession. It also provided recommendations to improve services available to those affected. Health Minister Chris Picton on Wednesday acknowledged in parliament the life-altering complications for many women and some men across Australia from pelvic mesh procedures and apologised to South Australian victims. 'I am here to offer an apology on behalf of the South Australian government to all South Australians impacted by the medical failure of surgical mesh implants,' he said. 'I am sorry for the pain, embarrassment, and gaslighting you have endured. I am sorry for the times you questioned your own experiences, were dismissed by those who were meant to care for you, and had to fight to receive the appropriate, compassionate and quality care you deserved. 'It is our government's responsibility to continue to improve services for those seeking care. We need to improve education for primary care so no woman is left dealing with these injuries by herself. We are committed to doing what we can to ensure this doesn't happen again.' A public apology on behalf of the state government was a recommendation of a South Australian parliamentary enquiry in 2021, spearheaded by Torrens MP Dana Wortley, which examined the harm caused by pelvic mesh implants. Wortley said, ahead of International Mesh Awareness Day on Thursday, that she wanted to acknowledge all woman who gave their time in speaking to the inquiry. 'In recognition of International Mesh Awareness Day on May 1, we acknowledge the courage and the selflessness of all the women and men affected by failed medical mesh implantation who stood together in South Australia, to have their voices heard,' she said. 'We recognise those affected by failed medical mesh devices whose voices went unheard for so long, causing them enormous suffering, ridicule, and frustration, and we acknowledge also, the devastating impact it has had on their lives and that of their families. 'While we can't turn back the clock and change these events, we can learn from them and take steps to ensure they are never repeated. We have come some way, however, there is still more to be done. This is not a report that sits on a shelf only to gather dust.' In June 2023, the Royal Adelaide Hospital's Pelvic Mesh Clinic employed its first local and publicly credentialled urogynaecologist in over a decade. The clinic has performed 24 full mesh removals in the public health system, with 192 surgical procedures completed.
