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An 84-year-old woman was forced to wait almost 10 hours at an Adelaide hospital as the city put planned operations on hold amid a capacity crisis.
The woman was pictured lying on a row of seats at Lyell McEwen Hospital on Wednesday.
Deputy Opposition Leader John Gardner claimed she had been suffering from significant flu symptoms.
“At one stage she was coughing so uncontrollably that she almost passed out,” he said.
Health Minister Chris Picton was unable to confirm the claim but admitted the waiting time was too long.
“We know our hospitals are busy and that’s why we need extra beds and that’s what we’re providing,” he said.
Adelaide hospitals have been under “code yellow” for eight consecutive days as they remain at capacity.
The internal emergency led to the cancellation of 458 planned operations.
“We continue to have a full bed that we’ve had available and on some days our intensive care units have been full or overcrowded,” SA Health chief executive Robin Lawrence said.
To make matters even scarier, a wave of COVID-19 and influenza forced 278 unimmunized healthcare workers to call in sick.
Scheduled operations resumed today at regional hospitals, but restrictions will remain in place for the rest of Adelaide until at least Tuesday.
Lawrence assured those who had elective surgeries canceled that they would not lose their place on the waiting list.
Authorities have blamed the federal government for the city’s health crisis after yesterday’s state budget provided a record $2.5 billion in health care investment.
“States across the country are caught in the middle of this crisis, because of a failure to deliver other services, particularly from the Commonwealth,” said Treasurer Stephen Mulligan.
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