Extreme hospital bed shortages: Part of ‘‘a union campaign, pushed by Labor’ says Skinner

Health Minister Jillian Skinner told Parliament this afternoon there had been no directive given for ambulances to bypass any hospital yesterday or today.

Mrs Skinner said the report about St George Hospital [see earlier story below] was part of ‘‘a union campaign, pushed by Labor’’.

She said the Health Services Union’s Facebook page last night stated, ‘‘Our campaign has made it to the front page of the SMH [Sydney Morning Herald]’’.

The post had ended, ‘‘Don’t forget to check out tomorrow’s Herald and keep up the good work with this campaign’’.

Mrs Skinner said, ‘‘I can assure you I have made inquiries of the acting chief executive of Ambulance, of hospitals [and] there has been no bypass directive given.

‘‘Journalists are ringing every hospital today asking of they have been bypassed.

‘‘The answer is ‘no’.

‘‘In fact some of the hospitals have a relatively quiet day.

‘‘This is a time of the year when there is a peak in  demand because of winter flu but I have a great deal of confidence in our paramedics.

‘‘They are so skilled that we have said to them ‘consider the options aside from transporting patients to hospitals.’ ’’

There was uproar on the Opposition benches when Mrs Skinner said there was an education campaign which asked people to ‘‘consider — is your emergency a real emergency?’’

‘‘We have had situations where people have been calling ambulances for things as trivial as ingrown toenails,’’ she said.

‘‘People should keep 000 calls for those times when there really is an emergency...’’

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EARLIER STORY:

Extreme bed shortages in Sydney's south led to ambulance officers being told to bypass a major trauma hospital, in a move they say could put patients at risk.

St George Hospital opened a $41 million emergency department only months ago but the hospital is so overloaded it has instituted a "capacity and escalation plan" to move patients to nearby Sutherland Hospital to make room.

The "crisis" measure comes off the back of a horror start to winter, with western Sydney also suffering from serious bed shortages that doctors have described as the worst in years.

Fairfax Media has revealed a number of long delays faced by NSW ambulances at hospitals across the state that have been too full to allow paramedics to offload patients in recent weeks, but the problem is getting only worse, with health authorities not expecting a peak in cases caused by the flu season to hit until later this month.

The Australian Medical Association NSW says enough is enough, and state and federal governments must ensure hospitals have the capacity to treat the huge numbers of patients who need their help.

Health Services Union councillor and paramedic Greg Bruce said ambulances were being told over their radio they could override the official "matrix" system if it told them to go to St George.

St George Hospital and NSW Ambulance Service deny any official bypass was in place or requested, saying any patient movements were part of a planned response to a busy period. But Mr Bruce said all ambulances had been sent a message to avoid the hospital if they thought the patient's condition could allow them to be taken on a longer journey elsewhere.

"It puts pressure on paramedics to make the right decision. There is always that concern we may not pick up something and will think it's OK to take them further when it's not," he said. "This is very abnormal. They are not meant to be overriding the matrix. It is a crisis".

Western Sydney has also faced further delays because years of growth in the area has not been met by increased hospital capacity and it finally appears to be reaching breaking point. On Monday, 13 ambulances were left waiting outside Liverpool Hospital, unable to admit patients. There were also long delays at Nepean Hospital.

Western Sydney doctors, speaking anonymously, have told Fairfax Media there is a serious shortage of beds available in major hospitals in the area, which is stopping hospitals admitting emergency patients.

"I haven't seen it as bad as this for a long time," one doctor said.

Australian Medical Association NSW president Saxon Smith said hospitals were being forced to work at or above capacity.

"We find ourselves between a rock and a hard place with a huge growth in demand and our worst flu season ever, but all it has done is highlight our capacity problems," he said. "We need government at a state and federal level to come up with a solution that is about the health system, not tax reform."

He said paramedics needed to be able to do their jobs and not have to make decisions about whether or not to bypass a hospital.

Labor health spokesman Walt Secord said the government should admit the system was under pressure.

"If an emergency department is overloaded and cannot take any more patients, the state government should not be forcing paramedics to have ambulances line up outside, just so the government can deny a hospital is on bypass and cannot cope," he said.

Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes said there were not enough hospitals in NSW that could deal with major trauma to have one like St George so overloaded.

He said a rise in population in areas in south and south-west Sydney had not been meet by adequate resources in ambulances or in hospital capacity, creating a perfect storm now winter was arriving.

"They will try to say it's just about winter, but it has been getting worse every year," he said.

However, St George Hospital general manager Leisa Rathborne denied the hospital had ever requested ambulances bypass it.

"St George Hospital emergency department is accepting patients … [but] is currently experiencing a high demand," she said. "The hospital has implemented its capacity and escalation plan."

This included sending patients to other hospitals in the district, including Sutherland Hospital, she said.

Health Minister Jillian Skinner said she was proud of St George and its new emergency department.

"The operational decisions made by St George Hospital today are a perfect example of hospitals working together to provide the best care to patients at times of increased demand," she said.

At the last election, the government committed to spending $307 million for a large upgrade St George Hospital.

It has previously said it has increased funding for the ambulance service by 26 per cent since 2010, while the growth in ambulance emergency call-outs in that time had only been half that.