‘This has already happened several times’: Patients being transported between RDH and Palmerston and back
Patients are being taken by ambulance from Royal Darwin Hospital to emergency at Palmerston Regional Hospital, only to be sent back if they need to be admitted.
Northern Territory
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PATIENTS are being taken by ambulance from Royal Darwin Hospital to the emergency department at Palmerston Regional Hospital, only to be sent back if they need to be admitted.
Top End Health Service recently informed staff of a policy change that when ramping occurs at RDH, ambulances will be sent from the ramp to the Palmerston hospital to offload patients.
The move has been made in a bid to ease the burden on the overwhelmed emergency department at RDH.
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But staff say it has created the ridiculous situation where a patient can be transported by ambulance from RDH to Palmerston, only to be brought back to RDH by ambulance if they need to be admitted.
“This has already happened several times,” one source said.
“Palmerston Regional Hospital ED is in no way resourced nor staffed to cope with this extra demand and diverting ambulances there will make this worse.
“It is a stupid and dangerous idea as those patients requiring admission will have to be sent back to RDH, and those that can be discharged will now be stuck in Palmerston 20km from home with no easy way to get home.”
In response to questions about the change in policy, a Health Department spokeswoman said Royal Darwin and Palmerston were two campuses of the one hospital.
“Patient safety is a priority and the dedicated staff at RDH and PRH work hard to ensure Territorians continue to receive the best patient care possible in periods of high demand,” she said.
“New direct admission pathways are being developed in renal medicine, cardiology and paediatrics as part of the work being undertaken to improve patient flow.”
The government has promoted the Palmerston hospital as part of the solution to demand issues at RDH. But some staff have told the NT News the new hospital has created more problems and its emergency department should be closed.
Health Minister Natasha Fyles said there were no plans to close the Palmerston hospital’s emergency department.
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