As of 11 August 2025, there were 287 patients stuck in South Australian hospitals waiting for an aged care bed - the highest number ever recorded and more than double the number of 15 months ago.
The following day, SA Health Minister Chris Picton announced capacity of the state's Transition Care Service at the luxury Pullman Hotel in central Adelaide will double from 24 to 48 from early September, expanding to two floors.
The Transition Care Service at the Pullman, a joint collaboration between SA Health, Amplar Health Home Hospital, and the Pullman Hotel, first received patients on 27 February. Since then, 200 patients have used the service receiving collectively 4,000 days of care - freeing up 4,000 hospital bed days. More than one third - 37% - of those patients have been aged care patients.
We reported last week ambulance ramping in Western Australia was at a record high of 7,009 hours in July. This week ambulance ramping in South Australia also soared to record highs, reaching 5,866 hours in July - a 9% increase on the previous month.
The SA Government is adding 180 new hospital beds to the system over the next six months to help increase capacity, and has proposed 10 changes the Federal Government could make to help alleviate bed blocking in the state.
Amplar Health Chief Executive Robert Read (left) said, "The expansion of the Transition Care Service is a strong example of how thoughtful investment in out-of-hospital models can improve patient flow and deliver better outcomes for the community. Amplar Health brings experience in healthcare delivery to this collaboration.
Medibank-owned Amplar Health was awarded a $30 million contract to run the Federal Government's virtual nursing trial in February, to explore how virtual nursing services can be integrated into aged care homes to support on-site staff, potentially extending clinical expertise in homes where it might otherwise not be available.