Nurses will take industrial action at two major Adelaide hospitals this weekend, limiting numbers in emergency departments to try to have targeted bed closures scrapped. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation said the bed closures were part of cuts to four wards at the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth hospitals. SA Health has disputed claims that beds are being closed, instead saying 55 will be be “relocated” to the Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide’s north. As part of the industrial action planned to take place on Saturday, emergency department admissions will be limited and patients only admitted to approved beds at the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals. Chief executive of the federation’s SA branch Elizabeth Dabars said while the action may lead to ambulance ramping, patients will not be put at risk. “We, as much as possible, want to make sure that our patients are receiving appropriate care,” Ms Dabars said. “But in this case we have been forced to act and it would seem to be preferable to our patients in these instances to be ramped, rather than to be sitting in a corridor or a treatment room.” Ms Dabars said if the industrial action was to compromise patient care, it would be cancelled. “We will lift the ban in the event that patient care could be compromised,” she said. But SA Health’s chief executive Vickie Kaminski hopes to stop the industrial action before it takes place. “What I’m agreeing to today is to continue the discussion with our nurses and physicians to see what the issues really are and what [is] the best solution,” Ms Kaminski said. The nurses union last week said emergency department patients were already being treated in corridors due to a shortage of beds, and the proposed cuts would make the situation worse. It said industrial action at the Lyell McEwin Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre over staffing and beds was also imminent.
