Adelaide hospitals cope with high demand

High demand for services at Adelaide hospitals has forced some surgery to be cancelled and patients to be relocated to country hospitals.

SA Health deputy chief executive Don Frater says demand at metropolitan hospitals in recent days has been the highest so far this year.

"As a result, we are enacting our winter demand management plan to free up as many beds in our hospitals as possible," Mr Frater said.

The plan includes the cancellation of some non-urgent elective surgery, the relocation of patients to nearby regional hospitals and the early discharge of patients whose conditions can be managed at home.

Mr Frater said the measures would ensure Adelaide's major hospitals, including their emergency departments, were able to meet any additional demand.

Activation of the management plan also comes ahead of the scheduled move from the existing Royal Adelaide Hospital to the new RAH later this year.

The new $2 billion facility is scheduled to take its first patients in early September, but that could be pushed back if Adelaide has a particularly bad flu season or if other issues arise.