SOUTH Australia is in the grip of its worst flu season on record, forcing the cancellation of elective surgery as hospital admissions soar.
THE state government has activated a winter demand strategy for metropolitan hospitals, cancelling most elective surgery and moving some patients to nearby country hospitals to free up beds.
The government will assess the situation on a day-to-day basis but Health Minister Jack Snelling says the provisions are likely to remain in force for the next four to six weeks, partly because of the severe flu season. “Flu notifications are running at about three times the level of last year and last year was a record flu year,” he said on Wednesday. “The other problem we have is our own staff fall ill. “So as well as coping with an increase in demand, sometimes we’re having to do that with fewer staff.” Mr Snelling said city hospitals had their busiest day this winter on Tuesday and some emergency departments were operating at well over capacity. “We really want to clear those emergency departments to ensure they don’t get clogged up,” he said. “We would still be very, very busy, I would expect, for the next four to six weeks.” The South Australian opposition said the move to cancel elective surgery was a sign of things to come under the government’s planned cuts to health services including the downgrading of some hospitals. “Under Labor’s plan, people should expect to drive further to access an emergency department, wait longer for treatment when they get there and have even less chance of being admitted to a hospital bed in a timely fashion,” health spokesman Stephen Wade said.