Inside Darwin Royal Hospital maternity ward it is ‘business as usual’ weeks after private closure
Weeks after Darwin Private Hospital closed its maternity ward doors, we check in with staff at Royal Darwin Hospital to see how staff and patients are feeling.
Healthscope’s announcement that it would be closing the Darwin Private Hospital maternity ward left a wake of confusion and uncertainty for families.
Mums and health professionals spoke out about the dangers of the Northern Territory losing its only private maternity service and the pressure it would put on Royal Darwin Hospital who would take on the additional births.
And despite many joining the call for the ward to stay open, the private ward shut its doors at the beginning of the month.
Nearly three weeks into the dreaded transition, this masthead checked in with Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) to see how staff and patients were faring.
Sara-Ann Harn, nursing director of operations for the division of women, children and youth at Royal Darwin Hospital, said the feedback so far had only been positive.
“It’s actually gone very, very well,” she said.
“From an operational point of view, things have gone smoothly.
“We have a fantastic collaborative relationship with the private obstetricians who are still providing ongoing care to their patients.
“Even the transfer to the private packages that several women have selected has also gone smoothly from an operational perspective.”
Has anything changed at Royal Darwin Hospital?
In the run up to June 1 when patients were first transitioned to RDH, Ms Harn said a lot of work went into providing clear communication to patients and staff about pathways and the after-care packages.
Working with constantly changing information, health staff used a number of ways to update people as quickly as possible including a dedicated web page.
Following the NT Health sessions hosted at the Mecure Darwin Airport Resort Hotel where the hotel after-care packages are based, staff at RDH also hosted education sessions in the maternity ward.
In the hospital itself, minor work has been done to move the waiting room to a room next to the delivery suite which is a little more “individual and private”.
And while a tender is underway for a private midwife to support the after-care packages, staff at RDH are helping the domiciliary care in the 24/7 after hours support.
Otherwise, Ms Harn said it has been business as usual.
Addressing concerns voiced in the community about capacity issues, Ms Harn said staff were mindful but not concerned about the increase of births which roughly works out at 10 per cent annually.
“There’s lots of different areas in the hospital and where one area might be under capacity, it doesn’t reflect the whole hospital,” she said.
“Our service is one that tends to ebb and flow.
“So we’re very used to flexing up and down with staffing and things like that to accommodate the changes in capacity and activity.
“We have continued to do that as business as usual.
“It hasn’t really felt very different.”
‘There hasn’t been any babies being birthed in corridors’
In the run up to the closure, there were rumours swirling regarding “corridor births” and labouring in waiting rooms.
But Ms Harn put the most wild tales to bed.
“I can reassure you that there hasn’t been any babies being birthed in corridors or any such areas,” she said confidently.
When asked to address incidents reported to this masthead of mums left labouring in the waiting room due to a lack of available rooms, Ms Harn said sometimes families could be waiting short periods while staff prep a room after another patient leaves.
“It is an unpredictable activity,” she said.
“So there are occasions when people arrive and we’re still preparing the room for them to move into.
“And sometimes people do have to wait for a small period.”
$35m could help address ageing infrastructure at RDH
Despite a rather “seamless” transition, Ms Harn said some additional funding to update the ward’s ageing infrastructure is very needed.
In May, Health Minister, Steve Edgington, said he had requested $35m in federal funding to help the NT Government make “some modifications” to RDH’s maternity ward.
At the time of print, the application is still being considered.
Ms Harn explained that while upgrading infrastructure might sound like it is “all about bricks and mortar”, it has a wider impact on attracting and retaining staff, making work more efficient and improving services.
“We do have ageing infrastructure and that is a challenge ongoing,” she said.
“We would welcome the opportunity to have that additional funding and use it to improve our service provision for all of our Territory consumers that come in the service.”
In a message to impacted families in the meantime, Ms Harn said they understood and empathised.
“It is unfortunate this has happened and Healthscope has closed [the maternity ward],” she said.
“We’re here to support women through that journey and partner with them to try and ensure they have the most positive birthing experience they can.”
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Originally published as Inside Darwin Royal Hospital maternity ward it is ‘business as usual’ weeks after private closure
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