The SA Government’s policy to fine hospitals that exceed waiting time target has been criticised by the state’s mental health watchdog.

The policy dictates that no patient should spend more than 24 hours waiting for a bed in an emergency department (ED). Fines can also be issued across other departments if they cannot free up beds in time.

This has led to the adult mental health unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital being issued repeated fines of $1,000, but has also seen waiting times for mental health patients in emergency departments halved.

In an annual report, principal community hospital visitor Maurice Corcoran said it is difficult to see how the fines have helped clinical practice.

The fine system “simply takes more resources out of the unit,” Mr Corcoran said.

“There's enough pressure on clinical decisions already, we believe, and we're just concerned — and so were a number of staff who spoke to us — that this was just imposing more pressure on very busy clinicians who've got to make some very serious clinical decisions,” he said.

Mr Corcoran welcomed the drop in ED waiting times, but warned of problems downstream.

“Some of the staff have relayed to us that they're having to discharge people at times when they think they probably could stay longer in some of the units,” he said.

“Staff have expressed concerns to us [that] if they get discharged too early then they're more likely to be re-admitted within a short period of time.”

Mr Corcoran said there is also a lack of community accommodation for people who need mental health support but do not need to stay in high-level facilities.

Mental Health Minister Peter Malinauskas defended the system.

“We continue to remain committed to ensure that issues around bed block, particularly at the back end and on wards, continues to be reduced to free up the capacity of our hard working emergency department staff,” he said.

“It's not about penalising emergency departments where they don't hit targets, but rather putting in place guidelines to ensure that we're getting high-quality patient outcomes.”