New hospital discharge policy to free 30 beds a week in Adelaide by October

The Malinauskas government will roll out a new Hospital Discharge Liaison Program at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre by October 1, aimed at freeing up 30 beds per week across the two sites. Under the policy, dedicated discharge planners will begin working with patients and families from the moment of admission to identify safe, timely exits-reducing so-called 'bed-block' that has kept emergency departments at 95 per cent capacity on average this year.

Adelaide’s public hospitals have been under acute pressure. In the March quarter 2026, SA Health data showed ambulances were ramped for a total of 8,400 hours-the second-worst quarter on record. Emergency departments at the RAH and Flinders saw category 3 and 4 patients waiting an average of 47 minutes longer than the national benchmark. Policy analysts say the new program targets the root cause: patients who are medically ready to leave but remain in a ward bed because of delays organising aged care, transport, or community support.

What it means for patients at home

For Adelaide residents, the most immediate change is expected to be a reduction in ambulance ramping. Under the new model, discharge planners will coordinate with aged-care providers, the SA Ambulance Service, and community nursing teams to get patients home before 11am wherever possible. The government says the policy will also expand the Hospital in the Home program at the Modbury and Lyell McEwin sites, allowing an estimated 120 additional patients per month to receive intravenous antibiotics, wound care, and physiotherapy in their own loungerooms rather than in a hospital bed.

Local advocates note that the change matters most for older residents in Adelaide’s northern suburbs. The Lyell McEwin catchment has one of the state’s highest rates of avoidable hospital presentations among over-65s-partly due to a shortage of general practitioners in the area. One advocate, speaking on background, said the discharge planners will be tasked with linking those patients to a GP or a community health centre within 48 hours of discharge, which they called 'a significant shift from the current system where follow-up often falls to the patient or a family member'.

Budget and next steps

The policy was funded with $8.2 million in the 2026-27 state budget, allocated to SA Health’s Integrated Care division. Of that, $3.5 million goes to hiring 18 full-time equivalent discharge liaison nurses and allied health workers. The remaining funds cover software upgrades to track bed turnover in real time and a six-month contract with a private transport provider to take patients home who do not require an ambulance but cannot drive themselves.

Implementation begins with a six-week training phase starting August 1, followed by a staggered launch: the RAH from September 1, Flinders from September 15, and the Lyell McEwin and Modbury expansions from October 1. The government says it will publish monthly progress reports on the SA Health website starting in November, including the number of beds freed and the average emergency wait time at each site. An independent evaluation by the University of Adelaide’s School of Public Health is due by June 2027. For now, residents in Adelaide can expect the first visible changes-shorter waits in the RAH emergency department-by late spring.