To the Editor: Recent media reports imply there is an increased pressure on Adelaide’s metropolitan emergency medical system which has resulted in additional ambulance ramping and consequent industrial action.1,2,3 We collected a novel dataset of emergency department (ED) capacity state observations at 30‐minute intervals from the public South Australia ED Dashboard4 to investigate the claims of increased pressure. The dashboard uses a traffic light system to indicate ED busyness.
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- 1. SA Government and ambulance union reach agreement after dispute over staff numbers and rostering. ABC News 2021; 5 May. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021‐05‐05/ambulance‐dispute‐with‐sa‐government‐resolved/100117996 (viewed Aug 2021).
- 2. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (SA Branch). “Donut” budget full of holes and will not address the needs of a health system in crisis [media release]. 22 June 2021. https://www.anmfsa.org.au/Web/Media_Releases/Media.aspx (viewed Aug 2021).
- 3. Statistics reveal thousands of hours lost to ramping outside SA hospitals. ABC News 2021; 8 May. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021‐05‐07/sa‐ramping‐statistics/100125640 (viewed Aug 2021).
- 4. Government of South Australia, SA Health. Emergency department dashboard. https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/about+us/our+performance/our+hospital+dashboards/about+the+ed+dashboard/emergency+department+dashboard (viewed Aug 2021).
- 5. Boyle LM, Mackay M, Bean N, Roughan M. Impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on South Australia’s emergency departments: evidence from two lockdowns. Aust Health Rev 2021; https://doi.org/10.1071/AH20366 [Epub ahead of print].
Laura Boyle acknowledges the support of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS). She was an ACEMS‐funded researcher at the University of Adelaide.
No relevant disclosures.