Hospital in gridlock
Ambulances ramped up outside emergency department
PARAMEDICS were urged to consider taking patients to alternative hospitals after Geelong hospital’s emergency department was overrun yesterday.
Up to nine ambulances could been seen ramped outside the Ryrie St emergency department as calls continued to come in for a raft of illnesses including strokes, sporting injuries, seizures and chest pain.
With nowhere to put patients, paramedics were forced to queue for hours from midmorning.
A Barwon Health spokes- man said at 2pm there were still about 20 patients waiting to be seen.
He said much of the back- log was due to non-urgent patients seeking treatment in the emergency department for a variety of reasons.
“The most seriously injured and sick people are always seen first,” he said.
“People with less urgent conditions may face long wait times to see a doctor. “If your condition is not an emergency, please consider visiting a GP.”
Ambulance Victoria spokesman Paul Bentley said a number of calls within a short time led to congestion at the emergency department.
“Only one paramedic crew was delayed for longer than one hour,” Mr Bentley said.
“Ambulance Victoria has been working closely with Barwon Health to manage winter demand in Geelong to ensure patients are quickly trans- ferred to hospital so that ambulances can become available to respond to emergency cases in the community.”
In July the State Government announced an extra $38.73 million in funding to keep up with record demand for services.
About 70,000 patients attending the Geelong hospital’s emergency department in 2016-17˚, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Despite the opening of Epworth Geelong’s emergency department last year, Geelong hospital’s emergency department saw almost 7000 more patients last financial year than in 2014-15.