The South Australian Government has moved to create up to 120 new step-down beds in an attempt to reduce hospital bottlenecks caused by delays in aged care and disability placements.
Tenders have been released for two new services that would cater for long-stay patients who are medically cleared but unable to be discharged due to a lack of community or aged care options. Up to 70 beds are proposed for the Adelaide CBD or nearby suburbs, targeting patients currently in the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth hospitals, while up to 50 beds would be established in the northern suburbs for patients in Lyell McEwin and Modbury hospitals.
The issue has become increasingly visible as new figures show how long some patients remain in hospital despite no longer needing acute care. Among them is a woman in her seventies who has spent 1,052 days in hospital after more than 60 residential aged care homes declined placement, and a man of the same age who has spent nearly a year in hospital after more than 30 homes failed to take him on.
Data from SA Health shows 377 patients are currently waiting for aged care support, including 262 in public hospitals, 60 in Care Awaiting Placement beds, 41 in private facilities such as the Pullman Hotel, and 14 in mental health beds. At a national level, almost 2,500 patients are stuck in public hospitals while waiting for federally funded aged care places.
State Health Minister Chris Picton said it was unacceptable that people were kept in hospitals for months or even years because of a shortage of care placements. “Too many South Australians remain in hospital long after their treatment is complete, through no fault of their own,” he said. “We are taking every step possible to deal with this issue. Rather than waiting for the Federal Government to act, we are releasing tenders for up to 120 more beds, on top of the 48 beds currently operating at the Pullman Hotel.”
The Pullman’s Transition Care Service, run by Amplar Health, was expanded earlier this year to 48 beds. Since February, it has freed up 5,685 hospital bed days by taking in patients who are otherwise stuck while awaiting placement.
Central Adelaide Local Health Network CEO Dr Emma McCahon said the aim was to ensure patients received care in the most suitable environment. “Finding a partner to continue caring for our transition patients will enable us to provide access to urgent care at our major hospitals in a timely manner,” she said.
Northern Adelaide Local Health Network CEO Karen Puvogel added that capacity pressures had increased the number of long-stay patients in hospitals across the network. She said the upcoming Invitation to Supply was the first step towards providing an appropriate setting outside hospitals for those awaiting aged care.
The State Government has framed the move as a temporary measure to ease pressure on hospitals while waiting for more long-term solutions from Canberra. The aged care sector has faced criticism over years of underfunding, with the pandemic further exposing weaknesses in staffing, capacity, and placement availability.
The announcement comes as other hospital performance indicators show signs of improvement. Ambulance ramping hours fell to 4,522 in September, down from 5,866 in July, marking the best result in four months. Ambulance response times have also improved since January 2022, with 77.7 per cent of Priority 1 cases reached within eight minutes and 60.5 per cent of Priority 2 cases within 16 minutes.
Despite an 8 per cent rise in emergency presentations compared to the same period last year, elective surgery numbers have also increased, with 1,661 more operations performed.
While the new step-down beds may provide short-term relief, health leaders continue to stress that without federal investment in aged care places, the pressure on hospitals will remain.
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