Overcrowding a huge concern

THE Territory’s most vulnerable people rely on Royal Darwin Hospital during the most difficult times of their lives

THE Territory’s most vulnerable people rely on Royal Darwin Hospital during the most difficult times of their lives. But how can people trust they will receive the best care at RDH when the hospital is struggling to cope with increasing demand?

Yesterday, RDH announced a code yellow for the first time ever as patient numbers exploded. This means all non-urgent elective surgeries — directly impacting 30-40 people — have been postponed. Urgent and emergency surgery will continue as normal, but the staff of RDH are working at full capacity.

While RDH insist patient safety remains their top priority, overcrowding is linked to lower health outcomes for patients. Australian Medical Association NT president Dr Robert Parker said every day, patients waited more than 24 hours in RDH’s emergency room for a hospital bed. He’s calling on the Federal Government to increase the NT’s health budget — because without more beds and more money, RDH’s overcrowding problem will not improve.

“Every day patients are ‘double bunked’ two to a single cubicle and every day on the inpatient wards patients are placed on trolleys in corridors and patients requiring surgical procedures are cancelled at late notice,” Dr Parker said.

Territorians deserve more. They deserve a hospital they can rely on, and they deserve treatment that is not rushed and understanding. They deserve elective surgery appointments to be kept.

Instead of blaming RDH’s hardworking doctors — who are already overworked, and stressed — we need to be pointing the finger right to the top — at the people who should be campaigning for more health funding and better outcomes for our people.

A poor health system is one of the many reasons why people leave the Territory. We need a reliable health system so people can trust then can be looked after if something goes wrong.