Southern Health Expansion Plan
A series of service moves to boost health services in Southern Adelaide.
We have implemented
In South Australia, a range of measures have been implemented on the advice of our medical and public health experts, to protect the health and wellbeing of all South Australians and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our community.
Detailed planning has been undertaken to ensure adequate capacity and resourcing across our health system as part of our COVID-19 response.
The response is tailored to our local conditions and may change over time as the situation in our state changes.
Dedicated COVID-19 clinics remain in operation, with further mobile, pop-up and essential worker drive-through testing sites opening as required. The provision of dedicated testing locations, particularly those located at hospital sites, assist in reducing Emergency Department (ED) presentations, in particular respiratory presentations.
We are implementing
The COVID-19 vaccine is being rolled out in phases across South Australia to ensure priority groups can access the vaccine. We are establishing vaccination clinics and sites across all regional, rural, and metropolitan areas, including a vaccination hub and community clinics. The South Australian COVID-19 vaccination rollout (PDF 168KB) will be complex and different from how vaccination programs are normally administered, ensuring the vaccine is available for every South Australian.
We are implementing
To ensure that beds are available for patients requiring acute or urgent care during times of peak demand, some patients scheduled for same day or overnight elective surgery may have their procedure temporarily postponed and rescheduled for a later date.
We are continuing to work on initiatives to ensure provision of timely access to care, and LHNs are continuing to partner with approved private providers to treat eligible and overdue elective surgery patients to support the recovery of the South Australian Public Health System.
We are implementing
We are continuing to implement strategies to assist in managing surges in demand. Initiatives include:
We are implementing
Capital works have commenced at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) ED, as part of the implementation of the Southern Health Expansion Plan, and will be completed in July 2021. The increase in ED beds will boost access to health services across the southern region. The Southern Health Expansion Plan will increase clinical capability of Noarlunga Hospital, increase the size of the FMC ED, and co-locate dementia specialist services at the Repat Hospital Precinct.
The Plan includes:
We are implementing
The Lyell McEwin Hospital (LMH) redevelopment, scheduled for completion in 2022, will increase the LMH ED capacity by 14 treatment spaces. This will include dedicated paediatric assessment and treatment spaces, additional resuscitation and triage areas, and a dedicated ambulance arrival area for patient transfers.
The redevelopment will also include a new 8-bed Mental Health Short Stay Unit providing a more suitable care environment for mental health patients requiring short stay assessment, as well as improving patient flow through the ED.
We have implemented
The My Home Hospital program is the next step in delivering more appropriate patient care throughout the health system, which will help free up hospital beds and enhance the experience of patients who can be better managed in a home setting.
Currently, only 1.3 per cent of health services delivered by all acute hospitals are at home, and the My Home Hospital program will aim to increase this number to almost five per cent.
Since January 2021, My Home Hospital has seen over 150 patients with conditions including cellulitis, kidney infections and pneumonia. Patients have been referred via public hospitals, general practitioners, residential care facilities, and the SA Ambulance Service.
My Home Hospital will expand its clinical scope to be able to care for a greater number of conditions. From 1 July 2021, My Home Hospital will also expand to Barossa Hill Fleurieu Local Health Network so more South Australians can access this service.
We have implemented
We have opened four Priority Care Centres across metropolitan Adelaide following a successful pilot program to ease pressure on our hospital Emergency Departments (EDs). As of 14 March 2021, a total of 11,257 patients have attended the Priority Care Centres since first opening in August 2019.
Our SA Ambulance Service and our hospital ED staff offer this option to patients who could be cared for and treated in the community in a Priority Care Centre, rather than waiting at an ED, resulting in the patient receiving the care they need sooner. Children under 13 years old taken to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital ED with less serious needs can also be treated at the Priority Care Centres.
Additional access pathways to a Priority Care Centre have also been established to enable general practitioners, SAPOL and other Local Health Network (LHN) services to utilise this service option as an alternative to sending people to an ED.
We have implemented
In response to COVID-19, SA Health in collaboration with Ramsey had up to 20 beds available at the Adelaide Clinic for patients in the metropolitan area. The beds were open from March through to June 2020 to assist with anticipated higher demand in the acute system.
In addition, further capacity (clinical, telehealth and/or service provision) was provided to a range mental health services to respond to increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, including Adults and Older Persons, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Drug and Alcohol Services SA (DASSA) and non-government services.
The Urgent Mental Health Care Centre (UMHCC) opened in the Adelaide CBD on 3 March 2021 offering an alternative for people who might otherwise present to an ED. The centre provides on-the-spot treatment, advice, and support to people in crisis from a clinical team including nursing, allied health, and medical staff, along with mental health peer workers. The service is operated by NEAMI National, with input from partners RI International, and operates on a crisis response model developed with input from key partners and stakeholders. The UMHCC is open from midday to midnight, 7 days a week.
We are also implementing:
We have implemented
By transferring metropolitan inpatients to peri-urban hospitals, patients can receive ongoing care in an appropriate setting at times of peak demand, and help free up beds for acute and urgent care in metropolitan Adelaide.
Metropolitan inpatients transferred to Angaston and Tanunda Hospitals for a long-stay admission have access to Care Pods, which have been developed by the Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network. This creates capacity in the metropolitan hospitals for more acute patients, and has brought local community members closer to home for the remainder of their in-patient care. The Care Pods provide an environment conducive to restorative care and wellbeing. The multidisciplinary team work collaboratively with the patient and their family to achieve goals and discharge to home or long-term care.
We have implemented
As part of a project to assist in transferring long stay patients in acute beds to alternative non-acute care options. SA Health continues to work with the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and the Department for Human Services on safely discharging National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) patients to home and community care and improving the timeliness of NDIS supports being available.
A new Transition to Home: Step Down program has been established in partnership with the Department for Human Services with an additional 48 beds being available for NDIS eligible patients while awaiting their longer term supports being put in place.
As at 19 March 2021, 555 patients have been discharged from hospital through these projects. These 555 patients had a combined stay of 51,832 days since being medically cleared for discharge.
We have implemented
The Patient Services Panel enables public hospitals to access services at private facilities. This more streamlined coordination of services supports increased capacity for elective surgery in our public hospitals.
SA Health’s list of 20 approved private providers include day and overnight hospitals that primarily assist with providing hospital services, such as elective surgery and rehabilitation, but also support during emergencies or major incidents.
We have implemented
We’ve opened more hospital beds over the last two years throughout the hospital networks, including:
We have implemented
Statewide hospital Criteria-Led Discharge (CLD) has been implemented to help patients return to their home as soon as possible, and reduce the pressure on our hospitals and EDs. We are continuing to promote utilisation of CLD to improve patient flow.
We have implemented
We have implemented
An increased number of direct admissions means that more patients are being admitted directly to a ward and by-passing hospital EDs, which means less waiting for patients and reduced pressure on our EDs.
We have implemented
Free flu vaccinations are available for everyone aged 65 years and over, pregnant women, all children aged six months to less than five years of age, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged six months and over, the homeless, and people from five years of age with medical conditions that predispose them to complications from the flu.