Canterbury Hospital speeds up services at emergency department

CANTERBURY Hospital’s emergency department is performing better in treating and discharging patients compared to the NSW average.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard with Dr Joseph Nunag and patient Juliet Lawrence and her mum Megan, at Canterbury Hospital Emergency Department. Pictures: Matthew Vasilescu

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CANTERBURY Hospital’s emergency department is performing significantly better in treating and discharging patients compared to the NSW average.

According to the Canterbury Hospital’s general manager, Dr Genevieve Wallace, the hospital continues to do well despite increasing demand for services.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard, who toured the hospital recently, met young patient Juliet Lawrence, 8, who was being treated after catching her thumb in a car door.

Dr Joseph Nunag inspects Juliet Lawrence’s injured finger while Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Juliet’s mum Megan look on at the hospital.

“It was a great result this morning, both for Juliet and for us getting seen so quickly,” mum Megan said.

Dr Wallace said it was exciting to welcome the minister so he could see first hand “the great work being done here to meet demand”.

“Canterbury Hospital continues to perform well despite an ever-growing demand for services and that is a credit to our hardworking staff who always make patient care a priority,” Dr Wallace said.

Since the opening of a new consultation room in the emergency department in March to treat patients who are not so serious, Sydney Local Health District said the percentage of people “being treated and discharged from the ED within four hours has increased to 88.07 per cent, well above the state benchmark of 81 per cent”.

“To further manage increased demand, it has invested heavily in ambulatory and community health strategies and models of care including Hospital in the Home,” a hospital spokeswoman said.

Bankstown Sports funds nurses and midwives scholarships

■ Bankstown Sports Club is spending $40,000 to fund a range of education and training scholarships for nurses and midwives at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital.

This is the 12th year the club is funding the program under the 2017 round of ClubGRANTS, which will cover the cost of 36 scholarships to further the skills and training of staff at the hospital.

The scholarships were presented at a special awards ceremony recently on International Nurses & Midwives Day, by the Bankstown Sports board of directors.

The grants will allow recipients to attend conferences, seminars and courses around Australia, including the 2018 Falls Prevention Conference in Hobart, the 2018 Renal Society of Australasia conference in Adelaide, the Australasian Diabetes Congress 2018, and the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.