Adelaide doctors ‘treating patients in the morgue’

Staff at the Royal Adelaide Hospital have reportedly been forced to treat patients in the morgue because of overcrowding in its emergency department.

Doctors told 9NEWS the practice has been common across the city’s hospitals for at least 18 months due to a lack of space.

One doctor said he had resuscitated a patient in a chair in the viewing area of the morgue.

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South Australian Health Minister Jack Snelling yesterday admitted the state was facing a health crisis and did not deny opposition claims patients had been treated in the morgue’s viewing area.

“I’m not going to rule anything out,” Mr Snelling said.

“The nurses and doctors who have responsibility for the patients utilise every single space.”

Mr Snelling said hospitals were struggling to cope with the surging numbers of emergency patients and the government was trying to rectify the problem.

The new Royal Adelaide Hospital is expected to ease the pressure on staff but is not expected to be completed until 2016.