Meet the ED doctor and nurse running the new Northern Beaches Hospital’s Emergency Department
BOSSES are promising the Emergency Department at Sydney’s newest hospital will be revolutionary. Now, the two people in charge have been unveiled.
Manly
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THE lives of northern beaches residents will be in the hands of these two experienced operators when the new Emergency Department at the Northern Beaches Hospital opens in October.
ED doctor Andy Ratchford and nurse Jo Watts have between them helped save thousands of people during their extensive careers.
The duo will be responsible for running the ED at Frenchs Forest and will be ready to deal with any emergencies from 7am on October 30 when the doors open.
They are expecting up to 70,000 patients a year.
Dr Ratchford, who is currently head of ED at Mona Vale Hospital, and Ms Watts, who is the nurse manager at Manly Hospital ED, have both worked in emergency for many years.
Dr Ratchford, 49, from Freshwater, has been at Mona Vale since 2005 and before that he worked for the trauma helicopter service in London.
Ms Watts, 45, of Queenscliff, has worked at Manly Hospital for about 24 years and in emergency for most of that time. She’s been the emergency nurse manager for more than 10 years.
The have both been instrumental in the design of the new ED department.
“I’m super excited about the move as we have been working on this for six years, before
Healthscope even got the contract,” Dr Ratchford said.
“It’s great to see the beds in place and the equipment going in. Each time I come in something new has arrived.”
He said it would be amazing to work in a department which had the latest, most up to date technology.
“All the equipment will be brand new and the ED will even have its own X-ray and CT scanner,” he said.
Ms Watts said she was looking forward to staff from Manly and Mona Vale working together, along with their new colleagues.
She said it was fantastic for northern beaches residents to have this new “big, shiny, brand new 50-bed department”.
Dr Louise Messara, Medical Director of Northern Beaches Hospital, said the department would be a showcase of how emergency should be run.
She added that the ED staff would work closely with onsite GPS in the medical centre so that patients who shouldn’t be in ED can walk through and see a GP, while patients who turn up to see a GP can be quickly directed to ED if needed.