SA aged care waiting times top national list
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South Australia is grappling with the longest aged care waiting times in the country, even as the state achieves significant strides in ambulance response times. The latest Productivity Commission Report on Government Services reveals that elderly South Australians wait an average of 253 days for a federal aged care bed—almost double the national average of 136 days.
According to the report, 24.4 hospital patient days per person each year are occupied by people waiting for an aged care place, well above the national average of 13.2 days. Compounding the issue, South Australia has 23% fewer operational aged care places per capita than when the data was first tracked in 2015.
In response, SA Health has launched a new public dashboard, updated weekly, to shed light on the number of patients ready for hospital discharge but unable to leave due to a shortage of aged care placements. The most recent figures show 253 older South Australians currently stuck in metropolitan hospitals—a 158% increase over just 15 months.
Additional challenges for the state’s health system include rising out-of-pocket barriers in primary care. The share of people who delayed seeing a GP due to cost more than doubled in SA, from 2.4% in 2020-21 to 7.3% in 2023-24, and 7.0% reported delaying or not obtaining needed prescription medication.
The Malinauskas Labor Government has announced steps to address the aged care shortfall, including 55 extra beds at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre, forming part of a 70-bed specialised hospital service for older South Australians awaiting federal aged care.
Despite these pressures, South Australia’s ambulance services have recorded the nation’s most improved response times over the past two years. The report shows a more than 38 per cent improvement in average response times in metropolitan Adelaide, with 90% of all incidents responded to within 34.3 minutes, down from 55.6 minutes the previous year. Overall, the government’s first two years in office have delivered a 37-minute improvement, eclipsing gains made by any other capital city.
As put by Chris Picton: “Right now there are a staggering 253 older South Australians who are medically ready to leave hospital but are stuck there because they’re waiting for an aged care bed. That’s the equivalent of more than the entire Modbury Hospital taken out of the system. The latest Productivity Commission national report card shows SA has the longest waits in the country for a federal aged care bed.
“We welcome the Albanese Government’s efforts to address this problem, after years of inaction from previous Liberal governments, but we know there’s more to do. At the same time we welcome the fact that this report demonstrates nation-leading improvements in ambulance response times over the past two years.
“The waiting time for the 90th percentile of patients has more than halved – which means more South Australians are getting the life-saving ambulance service they need on time.”
South Australian authorities say they hope the newly launched public dashboard will keep the spotlight on addressing the aged care backlog, ensuring hospital capacity is freed up and more older residents can transition into appropriate care facilities.
Ritchelle is a Content Producer for Healthcare Channel, Australia’s premier resource of information for healthcare.
