Doctors want a formalised process for transferring patients into corridors, lounges or other “unconventional” spaces on wards when faced with critical ED overcrowding.

Emergency physician Dr Daniel Haustead acknowledged that bed block often meant patients were already being moved into spare spaces within the ED.

But other departments could help by accepting non-bed transfers for patients who were not unwell or requiring active treatment, says the chair of the SA branch of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

If a hospital knew it would have 50 discharges a day, some patients stuck in ED could be moved to wards even before beds were available, Dr Haustead suggested.