The South Australian Government has denied union claims COVID-19 patients were left waiting for ambulances for hours last night. 9News
Government has denied union claims COVID-19 patients were left waiting for ambulances for hours last night as the healthcare system struggled to cope with demand.'s metro region entered "code white" on Wednesday night with all ambulances in use, Ambulance Employees Association said.
"For most of the evening there were 15 life-threatening emergencies uncovered with no ambulance to send," the union said in a tweet."Our healthcare system is not coping … a COVID patient triaged as life threatening waited 3 hours for an ambulance to arrive. One Ambulance was sent to three severely unwell COVID patients with no backup."
The Ambulance Employees Association says both suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases were ramped outside Royal Adelaide Hospital as ambulance officers waited for the patients to be seen."No COVID patients were ramped on their presentation to the Royal Adelaide Hospital via ambulance last night – this includes a Category 1 patient who was seen immediately on arrival," the spokesperson said.
"The COVID patient procedures were all followed correctly and all COVID patients were taken through the dedicated COVID entrance to the hospital.Ambulance Employees Association says the healthcare system is struggling to cope with demand amid a COVID-19 surge.Yesterday, the state recorded 198 new cases.From Friday morning, rapid antigen tests will also be allowed to be sold in the state.