Major win for RDH services

THE establishment of cardiothoracic and neurosurgical services at Royal Darwin Hospital will mean Territorians finally have the hospital they need, says the NT’s top cardiologist

THE establishment of cardiothoracic and neurosurgical services at Royal Darwin Hospital will mean Territorians finally have the hospital they need, says the NT’s top cardiologist.

Dr Marcus Ilton was one of the driving forces behind the proposal to bring cardiothoracic surgery services to Darwin.

He said the dual wins were a “great moment for the hospital and a great day for the Territory”.

“This announcement means (RDH will be) the proper, high-class tertiary hospital it should be,” he said.

The NT Government has allocated $8.3 million towards establishing the services at RDH.

It’s a dramatic turnaround in policy since Health Minister John Elferink told the NT News in March that cardiothoracic surgery was far out of RDH’s scope and there was no evidence establishing a unit here would save money.

Mr Elferink didn’t elaborate on what led to his change of heart other than to say he’d been shown evidence showing the system would be viable.

About $6.6 million a year is currently spent by the NT Government to send patients to interstate hospitals for cardiothoracic and neurosurgical procedures.

Dr Ilton said it had been a “long journey” to secure the funding. A proposal was first submitted to the Government in 2008. It’s expected the services will begin in a year.

The budget also includes a $186 million allocation over five years to establish an electronic health record system.

The online database will allow health workers to access patient records anywhere in the NT.

A total of $1.52 billion was allocated in the Budget for health services across the NT.