THE state’s paramedics' union has raised concerns about ambulance ramping at the Lyell McEwin Hospital, saying it is atypical to see ambulances waiting outside to process patients.

Ambulance Employees Union South Australia (AEA SA) posted a number of photos online last week of ambulances ramped outside major Adelaide hospitals, including the Lyell McEwin Hospital at Elizabeth Vale.

Ramping occurs when a hospital is at capacity and has no available beds to accommodate patients brought through the emergency department by paramedics.

According to AEA SA secretary Phil Palmer, the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset saw instances of ramping fall as people avoided hospitals and elective surgery was temporarily halted.

He told The Bunyip seeing the ‘Lyell Mac’ ramping was of particular concern, because its staff usually “move heaven and earth” to prevent it happening.

“We take the view that if the Lyell Mac is ramping, then things are really bad, because it is most unusual,” he said.

“The Lyell Mac usually moves heaven and earth to make sure they don’t ramp. The Lyell Mac’s attitude is that they have a community to look after, and they know that if ambulances are tied up outside their doors, they can’t look after the community.

“If they’re ramping, then they were in a situation where they couldn’t avoid it. Which means there just isn’t enough capacity in the hospital system.”

He added ramping at the Lyell McEwin Hospital not only affected the hospital’s services, but the ability of the Gawler region’s paramedics to transport patients and move onto another job.

“It means the community is being denied an ambulance because they’re tied up outside the hospital and can’t reach the community,” Mr Palmer said.

“Crews from Gawler and the Barossa get tied up outside the Lyell Mac and then that impacts on those regions.”

Work on a $58 million upgrade to the hospital began in May, which is set to include a short-stay mental health unit and an extension of its three-storey emergency department.

Mr Palmer hoped the upgrade would help curb ramping, but added more hospital staff to cope with the increased capacity would also be needed.

The South Australian Ambulance Service confirmed on Monday paramedics lost 29 hours while ramped at the hospital between June 8 and 14.

Chief executive David Place said a range of measures are in place to address ramping across Adelaide.

“The data indicates we are on the right track, with transfer of care wait times on a declining trajectory,” he said.

“We will always see spikes in workload, but initiatives like the expansion of the Lyell McEwin’s Emergency Department, the development of a new Mental Health Short Stay Unit and the continued use of Priority Patient Care Centres are all a step in the right direction.

“The Lyell McEwin Hospital is coping well – typically we don’t see ramping at this ED.”

Mr Place added the photos from the AEA SA were shared to depict ramping.

“The reality is that ambulances can be parked as they transfer a patient in the agreed timeframe, or if a crew is on a break,” he said.

“We are a busy service with a fleet of around 300 ambulances, it stands to reason that many will be located at hospital sites at any one time.”