48 new beds delivered at Lyell McEwin Hospital
Northern suburbs residents will have access to more hospital beds from tomorrow with the Malinauskas Labor Government delivering on its commitment to increase capacity at our hospitals.
Forty-eight new beds will open at the Lyell McEwin Hospital on Monday as part of 80 additional beds to come online at the hospital by the end of 2025.
On top of existing bed commitments, the Government is today announcing it will create an additional 12 new fast-tracked acute surgical beds that will be created by moving an outpatient area elsewhere within the hospital. These new beds are due to open in the first half of next year.
As well, plans are progressing on 20 new acute beds that were announced in this year’s budget with South Australian business Cheesman Architects recently appointed to lead on the designs.
Once all three projects are complete, the hospital’s bed capacity will increase by nearly 20 per cent – from 442 beds to 522.
These 80 extra beds being built at Lyell McEwin Hospital are more than triple Labor’s election promise to deliver 24 more beds.
Our plans are delivering more than 600 extra beds, including more than 330 extra beds over the course of this year and next – the equivalent of a new Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
The 48 new beds will open to general medicine patients on Monday in two, 24-bed inpatient wards as part of a $47 million project.
Each bed is in a single room with its own ensuite, with speciality care features to improve the comfort and wellbeing of patients requiring a higher level of support.
This includes four large bariatric rooms, four larger-sized patient rooms with bariatric features, two negative pressure isolation rooms, four dementia-friendly rooms and four rooms adjusted for people in distress (two of which are bariatric).
The new build, which has been delivered on approximately 5,900 square metres across a single level, includes utility rooms capable of accommodating the planned roll out of automated drug dispenser units.
This means common prescriptions can be delivered to patients around the clock, without relying on a pharmacist being present.
The helipad, which was closed to allow the works, has been back in operation since the end of May when the scaffolding and tower crane came down.
The State Government has recruited more than 100 full-time equivalent healthcare workers to operate the beds, including 12 medical officers, 85 nurses, 12 allied health and pharmacy staff and four administration roles.
The beds have also provided employment opportunities in the medical emergency team, medical and nursing education team, and the hospital’s catering service.
The 80 extra beds will help meet the increased demand for healthcare in the north. Over the past decade, the Lyell McEwin Hospital has seen a 15 per cent increase in people presenting to the emergency department and a 46 per cent increase in inpatients.
Meanwhile, South Australians needing an ambulance are much more likely to receive one on time than they were two years ago thanks to the investments in the ambulance service from the Malinauskas Labor Government.
Last month, nearly 3,000 more South Australians experiencing a Priority 2 life-threatening emergency had their ambulance roll up on time than was the case in July 2022.
This is despite the SA Ambulance Service responding to 816 more Priority 2 incidents last month compared to the same month two years ago, an almost eight per cent increase.
In July 2024, 70.4 per cent of ambulances arrived at Priority 1 incidents within the target time of eight minutes, compared to 49.7 per cent in July 2022.
For Priority 2 incidents, 55 per cent of ambulances arrived within the target time of 16 minutes compared to 31.7 per cent in July 2022.
Quotes
Attributable to Peter Malinauskas
The State Government is getting on with the job of building a bigger health system.
It’s great to have these two brand-new inpatient wards opening tomorrow, creating 48 more beds at the Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide’s north.
We will also be delivering another 32 beds at the Lyell McEwin by the end of next year.
This is all part of the State Government’s record investment into our health system, opening more beds, hiring more healthcare workers and ensuring South Australians get access to treatment when they need it.
Attributable to Chris Picton
We are pulling every lever we can to add more hospital beds to our health system.
These 48 beds coming online tomorrow, and an additional 32 due by the end of next year, will increase bed capacity at the Lyell McEwin Hospital by almost 20 per cent.
This is part of our commitment to open more than 330 new beds across the state by the end of next year – the equivalent of adding more than another Queen Elizabeth Hospital into our health system.
At the same time we also need action from the Federal Government to address the over 200 patients in hospital beds who don’t need to be there, stuck waiting for the federal aged care system.
Attributable to Northern Adelaide Local Health Network Chief Executive Officer, Karen Puvogel
The opening of these beds is great news for our staff and for the community as a whole. It builds much-needed capacity for our teams to deliver care to those who need it.
What’s better is that it’s only the first part of a bigger bed package that’s set to increase the number of beds at the Lyell McEwin by 80 by the end of next year.
It’s an exciting chapter for everyone at NALHN and I am extremely proud to lead such a resilient and talented team of docors, nurses, and amazing staff delivering healthcare services through this period of growth.