New Lockyer hospital facility to reduce patient transfers

A new medical facility in the Lockyer Valley will reduce the need for patients to be transferred to Brisbane

LOCKYER Valley patients will receive treatment and a diagnosis more quickly now a new medical facility has been opened at Laidley Hospital.

The new ultrasound is helping doctors to diagnose Lockyer Valley patients in an emergency and subsequently treat them rather than in many cases having to transfer them to Brisbane or Ipswich.

Dr John Ridler from Laidley Hospital told the Gatton Star the new point of care ultrasound machine is a smaller tool than what a normal sonographer would use as it is portable and can be used all throughout the hospital.

Dr Emily Moody uses the new ultrasound facility to treat patients at Laidley Hospital. Copyright: West Moreton Health.

 

The new ultrasound machine is primarily used by doctors at the hospital to diagnose patients in real time.

Dr Ridler said it has also replaced the need to use x-ray making it safer for patients as it prevents them from radiation exposure.

Dr Ridler said the ultrasound will help doctors identify gallstones, kidney stones, pregnancies and pneumonias.

It will also go a long way to help doctors treat traumas that might be sustained from farming or vehicle accidents and cardiac arrests.

"We can in real time scan their heart, lungs and abdomen and that guides where a patient might then need to go," Dr Ridler said.

Dr Ridler told the Gatton Star the new ultrasound will minimise the need for patients to be transferred hospitals multiple times.

For example rather than going from Laidley to Ipswich, and then on to Brisbane, the patient if identified as needing significant treatment might go straight to the Royal Brisbane Hospital or Princess Alexandra.

In the case of a cardiac arrest the ultrasound can identify the cause far earlier, Dr Ridler said.

Dr Ridler said that this will mean less transfers for Lockyer Valley residents or could mean the right transfer for patients sooner.

Laidley Hospital has a four bed emergency centre and a 10 bed ward.

Dr Ridler who has an extensive background in using ultrasound said it was "amazing" to have the new tool at Laidley.

He said the hospital had been keeping track of the number of patients they did not need to transfer since the ultrasound was installed.

"It is a significant number of patients each shift that we are able to keep at Laidley rather than transfer them to Brisbane or Ipswich," Dr Ridler said.

Dr Ridler said it was the beginning of what he hoped would be a number of new facilities coming to Laidley Hospital, in addition to a number of new senior skilled doctors coming to work there.

There is a greater push Dr Ridler said for regional hospitals to be able to do more treatments on site as areas such as Laidley and Plainland continue to grow.

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