Intensive chair plan still under consideration for Royal Hobart Hospital

Health officials are continuing to consider how to cope with severe overcrowding at the Royal Hobart Hospital, five months after the emergence of a plan to place patients in alcoves and storerooms.

Emergency sign at Royal Hobart Hospital. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

HEALTH officials are continuing to consider how to cope with severe overcrowding at the Royal Hobart Hospital, five months after the emergence of a plan to place patients in alcoves and storerooms.

The proposed Over Capacity Protocol, seen by the Mercury, listed areas where staff might consider moving patients when the hospital was full and struggling to cope with demand.

The draft document, written by the hospital’s executive clinical director, noted: “In the context of the hospital operating with a deteriorating escalation status the THS needs to operate differently.”

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The document described actions necessary when the Emergency Department had more patients than it could safely care for.

The document suggested patients who were nearing discharge or transfer could be left on trolleys, beds or chairs.

It identified alcoves off corridors, a waiting bay, a family room, a storeroom and a gym as places to put patients.

Five months since the Over Capacity Protocol was detailed by the Mercury, Tasmanian Health Service will not confirm which, if any, aspects of the plan have been put in place.

The Mercury asked whether the plan had been adopted in full or in part, or if not if another plan was being developed.

The Mercury did not receive an official response, however a spokesman indicated the Over Capacity Protocol was being considered as part of the hospital’s strategy to deal with increased demand over the winter flu season.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson has strongly defended the Over Capacity Protocol as a practical solution being developed by doctors who wanted patients to be properly cared for in times of peak demand.

The storeroom identified in the plan was later described as a disused consulting room with an ensuite bathroom, which staff had started using to store items.