Staff shortage sees St John of God Geelong Hospital implement ‘bypass’ measure

A staff shortage at St John of God’s maternity suite saw the hospital implement an emergency measure on Sunday night.

St John of God Hospital Geelong. Picture: Alison Wynd.

A staff shortage at St John of God Geelong’s maternity ward saw the hospital enact a “birth bypass” on Sunday evening.

The situation was caused by multiple staff members from the birth suite team calling in sick for the overnight shift that ended at 7am Monday, after which services returned to normal.

In this context, a “bypass” refers to a situation where the hospital is unable to admit patients due to safety concerns stemming from an inadequate level of staff.

A spokeswoman from St John of God Geelong said the “highly unusual instance” was a precautionary measure.

“Every effort was made to find replacement staff at short notice, however, in the interest of prioritising patient safety, we applied our bypass protocol,” she said.

The spokeswoman said one woman in the early stages of labour was redirected to Barwon Health.

She was subsequently transferred back to St John’s and gave birth there.

Barwon Health spokeswoman Kate Bibby said health organisations in the area took a collaborative approach to situations like these.

“Barwon Health and St John of God Geelong Hospital work closely together to ensure comprehensive maternity care is provided locally for families in Geelong and the broader Barwon South-West Region,” she said.

“As the regional tertiary hospital, University Hospital Geelong regularly accepts transfers from all other hospitals, including St John of God.”

Geelong’s only other private maternity unit at Epworth Geelong closed in early 2023 over what it claimed was a severe staffing shortage.

Originally published as Staff shortage sees St John of God Geelong Hospital implement ‘bypass’ measure