AEA SA general secretary Leah Watkins told FIVEaa this morning the patient was transported from the south coast to the Flinders Medical Centre and then waited outside in the ambulance for nine hours.

But the government disputes the claim, saying a short time ago the patient was ramped for five and a half hours.

Southern Adelaide Local Health Network chief executive Kerrie Freeman, whose health network includes the Flinders Medical Centre, said: “We are looking into the incident as described and apologise to anyone who has had a lengthy wait due to surges in demand.”

“When we experience surges, including over the winter months, patients will experience longer waiting times to be seen as those needing the most urgent care are always treated first,” she said.

Watkins told InDaily the patient was transported from Victor Harbor Hospital to Flinders last Tuesday, August 6. The age of the patient was not disclosed.

“That patient had to be kept in spinal precautions at all times which means laying dead flat on their back with their head stabilised,” Watkins said, adding that this can lead to complications with pressure sores and toileting.

Asked earlier on FIVEaa if it was right to say lives are being lost to ramping, Watkins said: “Yes, indeed, they have in the past and they have very recently as well.”

“And that’s not even in consideration of the immense, prolonged suffering of patients on the ramp as well, some up to 12 to even more hours on the ramp.

“Another example I heard just the other day was a patient with a fractured spine being transported from South Coast to Flinders, who was ramped at Flinders for nine hours.

“It’s the suffering of everyday patients and the loss of life that… we absolutely need everyone focused on resolving this.”

SALHN chief executive Freeman said: “When there are beds available in our hospitals, our emergency departments can transfer patients from ambulances into our hospitals much faster – during periods of high demand our beds become full quickly.

“There are currently over 60 people at Flinders Medical Centre who are ready to leave our acute hospital care and are waiting to transition to the next stage of their care, for example aged care facilities or restorative care to get back home.

“We continue to look at all options to reduce the time patients need to wait for care, including purchasing care in the private sector, hiring more staff, fast-tracking new beds, and ensuring patients are in the right place to receive the right care.”

The Flinders Medical Centre. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

The latest case study comes after ambulances spent a record 5539 hours waiting outside hospitals in July to admit patients, eclipsing the previous ramping record of 4773 hours in May 2024.

The ambulance union, which spent $400,000 supporting Labor’s 2022 election campaign focus on health, has largely refrained from criticising the Malinauskas Government in its first two years in office.

But the union is losing patience and is now disclosing patient case studies that highlight issues within the health system.

In January, the union revealed the case of Hectorville man “Eddie” who died waiting more than 10 hours for an ambulance to arrive after initially being triaged as requiring an ambulance within an hour.

Last month, the union highlighted the case of an 83-year-old woman who spent 12 hours waiting to be admitted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Last week, it said an aged care patient died after waiting more than five hours for an ambulance. They were initially triaged as a priority three patient, the union said, requiring an ambulance within 30 minutes.

The Malinauskas Government has committed $7.1 billion in health spending and is vowing to bring 330 new hospital beds online by the end of next year.

While ambulance ramping has reached all-time highs, ambulance response times have improved under Labor.

The percentage of priority one callouts – requiring an ambulance within eight minutes – met on time has improved from 59.4 per cent in March 2022 to 71.1 per cent in June 2024.

The percentage of priority two callouts – requiring an ambulance within 16 minutes – met on time similarly improved from 40.9 per cent in March 2022 to 62.5 per cent in June 2024.

The ambulance union’s media campaign against the former Marshall Government marred the final days of the Liberal Party’s election campaign, with stories of patient deaths waiting for ambulances dominating the news cycle.

Last year, Watkins revealed the union was refusing to meet with the Liberal Opposition, saying trust between paramedics and the Liberal Party was “trashed”.

On Monday, new Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia said his first correspondence as party leader would be to the ambulance union asking for a meeting.

“I’m putting the olive branch out right now to the ambulance union, to sit down and have a chat, and make sure that we can do everything possible to work together to help fix that ramping crisis, but also hold the government to account,” Tarzia said.

Watkins told FIVEaa that she had received Tarzia’s letter and was now “in the process of drafting a response”.

“[The response] will be to accept that invitation,” she said.

“So, I’m sure we will be meeting in the future.”