Dire warning after SA Health lift 'code yellow' amidst record ambulance ramping

Health authorities have urgently requested that the South Australian government extend the statewide code yellow emergency at hospitals amidst record ramping hours.

Code yellow, which was implemented in May across all public hospitals, led to the cancellation of all non-urgent elective surgeries.

Leah Watkins, state secretary of the Ambulance Employees Association, has stated that the situation remains a crisis.

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SA Health today confirmed the code yellow emergency would come to an end today after two months.

It comes as ramping hours for July 2024 reached record levels of over 5500 hours, equivalent to 15 ambulance crews ramped, unavailable for the community, every single day.

"Someone will die in the community waiting for an ambulance that hasn't arrived," Watkins said.

The union warned that up to 54 ambulances were ramped at Adelaide hospitals on Wednesday night, with 23 of those at emergency levels.

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Such numbers haven't been seen since the reopening of borders in 2022 during COVID-19.

When Code Yellow was declared in May, 900 elective surgeries were postponed. While some of these surgeries have been rescheduled, hospitals are managing them on a day-by-day basis.

Health Minister Chris Picton stated that the Code Yellow period has enabled the implementation of rapid response measures.

"Of course, it doesn't mean all of the health issues in our system are fixed we're adding hundreds of extra beds, hundreds of extra doctors and nurses to our system," he said.