PARAMEDIC numbers will be boosted by 72 and a dozen ambulances added to the state fleet as part of a controversial overhaul of the health system set to be publicly revealed on Tuesday.
The highly anticipated Transforming Health plan will include upgraded emergency departments at Flinders Medical Centre as well as new Royal Adelaide and Lyell McEwin hospitals.
Services at other emergency departments to offering only care for non life-threatening conditions.
There is also intense speculation the Repatriation General Hospital faces closure.
Mr Snelling said he planned to spend $15 million on expanding the ambulance fleet as the consolidation of emergency services would require some patients to travel further.
The move has been welcomed by the ambulance union, which warns the sector faced “disaster” if chronic under-resourcing was allowed to continue as workloads were further increased.
Mr Snelling said consolidated services would ensure the “best care, first time, every time”.
“Once-in-a-lifetime emergencies, such as heart attacks, strokes and major accidents need highly specialised teams to ensure people receive the right care at the right time,” he said.
“In some instances, this will mean ambulances will need to travel a bit further to make sure the patient receives the right care that gives them the best chance of recovery.
“Travelling further to the right hospital is safer, and leads to better quality outcomes, than going to a hospital not supported to provide the care needed.
“The ambulance team will play a crucial role in this process as they will make the decision about the best hospital to take you to for the best care, first time.”
SA employs approximately 1200 ambulance staff, including around 880 paramedics.
Mr Snelling said two new “hub-and-spoke” ambulance stations would be built, one in the northern suburbs and one in the west, to ensure paramedics were best located to reach patients quickly.
Ambulance Employees Association of SA general secretary Phil Palmer said it was critical more patients were progressed through the hospital system faster to avoid ramping in the future.
“We’ve been complaining about under-resourcing for years,” he said.
“We can do a lot with 70 more paramedics, that’s for sure.
“If we configure it right, then we can really enhance the ambulance service and improve the paramedics’ lot because the way things were going we were heading for a disaster.”
The Opposition has warned scaling back emergency departments is potentially dangerous and says patients would be paying for government mismanagement if the Repat were closed.
SA Ambulance Service chief executive Robert Morton In a statement, he cited personal reasons.