Hotel rooms a ‘circuit breaker’ for crowded hospitals
The Australian Medical Association in South Australia (AMA SA) has doubled down on its calls for increased federal support, as the state government announces a CBD hotel will be used to transition patients from hospital to other services.
Up to 24 patients will be relocated from metropolitan and peri-urban hospitals to the Pullman Adelaide in the city’s east as part of a state government Transition Care Service plan.
The service will be accessible within weeks and will be used by patients who are medically stable but still require care while they await additional support in addition to post-operative patients who don’t require acute hospital care.
AMA SA president Dr John Williams said he hopes the service will serve as a much-needed circuit breaker.
“The South Australian Government has a responsibility to make sure this facility is properly staffed with enough trained professionals to ensure patients receive the best quality of care,” he said.
“It’s also imperative that the service is fully connected with the rest of the health system, including hospitals and general practice and that acute care can be obtained immediately in an emergency.”
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The arrangement between SA Health, Amplar Health Home Hospital Pty Ltd and Pullman Adelaide will be offered for 12 months with the possibility of extension or expansion to other locations.
It comes as the Report on Government Services 2023-2024 from the Productivity Commission shows South Australia has the nation’s highest median wait time for a Federal aged care bed following Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) approval.
SA patients are waiting 253 days to be placed, almost double the national average of 136 days.
Health Minister Chris Picton said the Albanese Government’s efforts are welcomed, but “there’s more to do”.
“Right now, there are a staggering 253 older South Australians who are medically ready to leave hospital but are stuck there because they’re waiting for an aged care bed,” he said.
“That’s why the state government is taking every possible step we can – including now using these hotel rooms for people stuck in hospital and medically cleared to leave.”
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Additionally, the state government believes a lack of primary care continues to impact the health system as the percentage of people who have delayed or did not see a GP due to costs more than doubled in SA in recent years.
Dr Williams said South Australia needs increased investment in aged care to reduce wait times for federal aged care beds.
“AMA SA is also calling on the Australian Government to modernise Medicare, to support GPs so they can better meet the complex and chronic needs of patients, including mental health patients and the elderly,” he said.
South Australia has the highest median wait time in the country for a Federal aged care bed following Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) approval. Image: SA Government
These pressures have also highlighted the state’s emergency response statistics.
Today, the state government announced South Australia had achieved the “best emergency ambulance response times in more than four years”.
In January 2025, 68.7 per cent of all Priority 2 cases were attended to within the target time of 16 minutes, marking the highest percentage of ambulances arriving on time to Priority 2 emergencies in any month since November 2020.
Shadow Health Minister Ashton Hurn told InDaily South Australia still has the worst response times in the nation.
“They’re (state government) are bizarrely trying to pretend the promise was to fix response times – it’s not fooling anyone and frankly it highlights Labor’s complete lack of integrity when it comes to health,” she said.
Meanwhile, ramping numbers decreased year on year however, ambulances spent 3479 hours on ramps in January 2025.
“Whilst Peter Malinauskas and Chris Picton might be out there cracking open the Champagne, South Australians are experiencing the worst ramping in the history of South Australia,” Hurn added.
