Australians face ballooning waits from 24 hours up to several days to be admitted to hospital wards, as a combination of health worker shortages, surging Covid and flu cases and the legacy of pandemic backlogs means many hospitals have run out of beds to admit new patients.
“Bed block” – when a hospital is so full there are no beds to admit new patients so emergency departments become clogged – has been widely reported by health workers across several states, with health industry sources telling Guardian Australia wait times are expected to remain high throughout coming months.
