A near miss with a pedestrian has led to the temporary closure of Victor Harbor hospital’s helipad, which will delay the urgent transfer of patients to Adelaide. 

Key points:

  • Ambulance crews are being tied up when they assist with emergency retrievals, the union says 
  • The region’s emergency services are already dealing with resourcing issues
  • The hospital’s helipad could be up and running in a week, but the health district says there are numerous issues to work through

In response to questions from local MP David Basham, Health Minister Chris Picton said in parliament yesterday that a health service employee entered the landing area from a temporary car park while a helicopter was approaching last month.

A review was undertaken by the company that operates the helicopters for the South Australian Ambulance Service and the Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network.

Initially it was advised that helicopters use Victor Harbor Oval, which is shared with Victor Harbor High School.

The school raised concerns and it was decided that the helicopters would use the privately owned Goolwa Airport instead.

Goolwa Airport is about 20 minutes away from the hospital.(ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn)

Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network acting chief executive Bronwyn Masters told ABC Radio Adelaide this morning that it was hoped that the helipad would be back in use in under a week.

She said her department had been working with the City of Victor Harbor council to find a solution.

“There’s a range of issues,” Ms Masters said.

“We’ve got about five things we have to implement to restrict access [because] it’s quite a large area — signage, fencing, communication to staff, implementation of a helicopter liaison officer so we’re notified when a chopper is coming in.”

She said a member of staff would ensure the area was clear when a helicopter was due to land.

Union secretary Leah Watkins says having to use Goolwa Airport for retrievals increases the demand on ambulance services.(ABC News)

Leah Watkins from the Ambulance Employees Association said the issue had been raised by staff earlier this week.

She said local crews had to meet the helicopter at Goolwa, transport the MedSTAR crew and specialist equipment to the hospital, remain on site and then transport the patient and MedSTAR doctors back to the airport.

Ms Watkins said that meant crews were unavailable for other jobs for extended periods of time.

Ambulance crews are unable to respond to other calls while servicing the MedSTAR team, the union says.(ABC News — file photo)

During the state election campaign, Premier Peter Malinauskas promised additional ambulance and paramedic staff would be stationed at Victor Harbor.

Ms Watkins said that until that happened the southern Fleurieu region would continue to have resourcing issue.

“We can’t fit another vehicle at the existing station,” she said.

A spokesperson for the health minister said construction on the new station would start later this year.

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