The Malinauskas Labor Government is injecting another $58 million into the SA Ambulance Service in this year's State Budget to roll out an electronic patient care record system, build more ambulance stations and expand a key hospital avoidance team.
The funded projects in the 2024-25 State Budget highlight the Government's ongoing commitment to significantly boost the state's ambulance service to help South Australians get the healthcare they need.
The State Government's existing investments, including the recruitment of an additional 219 ambos so far, has already resulted in a dramatic improvement in ambulance response times, with 66.7 per cent of Priority 2 lights and sirens cases reached on time in April 2024, compared to just 36.2 per cent in January 2022.
The Government is investing $23.5 million over two years to enable SAAS to introduce an electronic patient care record (ePCR) system for the first time.
Ambulance crews will be equipped with electronic devices to enter their patient notes directly, eliminating the current need for paramedics handwriting patient case cards and subsequent data entry by support staff.
The movement from paper-based clinical records to a fully integrated electronic Patient Care Record system for SAAS will have a significant positive impact on the organisation, the state's health service and the patients they serve.
Connecting with the hospitals' Sunrise electronic medical record system, the new SAAS ePCR system will streamline workflows and communication between ambulance and hospital staff, speeding up access by doctors and nurses to patients' ambulance records.
Streamlining transfer of care and reducing paperwork are crucial measures in an emergency when every second counts. Whether it's ensuring important patient information flows seamlessly during transfer of care or helping our ambulance crews get back on the road sooner, every efficiency matters.
The rollout of ePCR devices will commence incrementally from mid next year, covering more than 500 ambulance fleet, including emergency and patient transport ambulances, MedSTAR and Special Operations Team vehicles, and light ambulance fleet.
The Government is also investing $24 million for three brand new ambulance stations at Marion, Two Wells and Whyalla.
The existing Marion and Whyalla stations were to be upgraded as part of the Government's election commitments, but the Government is now investing even more funding to fully build brand-new stations instead to provide fit-for-purpose facilities for our ambos and better serve these local communities.
Two Wells will get its own brand-new ambulance station for the first time to service the expanding region which currently relies on crews based at the Mallala and Gawler stations.
Work will likely start on the new stations early next year and they're expected to open in 2026.
The addition of these three new stations brings the total number of brand-new or rebuilt ambulance sites being delivered across the state by the Malinauskas Labor Government to 15.
The Budget also delivers SAAS $10.7 million to expand one of its key hospital avoidance teams.
The Clinical Telephone Assessment (CTA) service – staffed by 15 highly skilled Paramedic Telehealth Clinicians – aims to identify when an emergency response is required versus when a patient could see their regular care provider such as their GP, or be referred to another suitable care pathway such as the Hospital Avoidance and Supported Discharge Service, Urgent Mental Health Care Centre, or one of the many other available services.
Currently the CTA team only has capacity to intervene in around a third of the cases that could potentially benefit from clinical telehealth assessment, advice and referral.
The CTA service currently assesses about 1,400 patients a month, with about a quarter not needing an ambulance, meaning it saves about 350 unnecessary ambulance transports each month.
Increasing the funding for this service will mean SAAS can train and employ 16 more of these skilled clinicians, potentially saving twice as many unnecessary ambulance callouts each month, and also embedding a 24/7 specialist mental health secondary triage role.
Within two years, the expansion is expected to nearly double assessments and significantly increase diversions from ambulance response, freeing up vital hospital capacity for higher acuity and emergency patients.
It will also ensure that more of our patients receive the care they need sooner, and that emergency ambulances are available for those who need them most.
Recruitment and training will commence immediately, with half of the additional clinicians expected to join the team later this year and the full 16 on board by mid next year, in readiness for the opening of the new ambulance headquarters being delivered by the Malinauskas Labor Government.
As put by Peter Malinauskas
Our investments – including hiring 219 extra ambos in our first two years in Government – have dramatically turned around response times so that thousands more patients are being reached by paramedics quicker in their time of need.
We are giving our ambulance service the tools it needs to deliver life-saving care to patients in emergencies.
These three new stations for Marion, Two Wells and Whyalla mean our Government is now delivering a total of 15 brand-new ambulance sites for South Australians, with the first of our new metro stations – at Norwood – due to open soon.
We're also bringing ambulance patient care records into the 21st Century to deliver more streamlined patient care.
As put by Stephen Mullighan
Our commitments in this Budget show that we are investing to deliver a better health system for South Australians. We're putting in the funding and doing the hard work.
We're building even more ambulance stations, hiring more paramedics and now we're giving SAAS a modern electronic patient care record system to improve efficiencies and care.
It's in stark contrast to the former Liberal government, which cut funding to SAAS by $13 million in its first two years – at a time when every other state was boosting their ambulance service.
As put by Chris Picton
From day one, our Government has listened to our ambos and we are delivering them the resources they need to provide better and quicker care to patients, which has already led to a dramatic improvement in response times.
Our hard-working ambos deserve an electronic patient care record system fit for the 21st Century to help improve patient care. We are giving them that.
We're building more ambulance stations to provide the infrastructure our SAAS team needs to do such an important job caring for our community.
We're also expanding an important SAAS telehealth service that helps keep people out of emergency departments who don't need to be there and frees up ambulances for life threatening emergencies.
As put by SAAS CEO Rob Elliott
The effort put into not only recruiting new ambulance officers, paramedics and dispatchers but also building infrastructure to support them has been remarkable. This effort has spanned across the entire SAAS organisation and will continue as these new and exciting initiatives are added to our operational growth plan.
The introduction of an electronic patient care record will create efficiencies across the health system, which will ultimately lead to improved patient care.
The Clinical Telephone Assessment (CTA) service plays a pivotal role in our emergency triage, providing invaluable insights into patients' needs and enabling us to collaboratively determine the most effective response.
This service not only enhances our overall response times but also contributes to a reduction in unnecessary visits to hospital Emergency Departments over time. With this funding, SAAS will transition CTA operations into a 24-hour service, further bolstering our ability to serve the community.
I'm incredibly proud of our achievements, particularly in improving response times and we will continue to put in the hard work to have a positive impact on our patients lives.
