Show some sense

WE are blessed in Geelong to have three top-class hospitals.

The knowledge of this can be a great comfort when a loved one is in need of hospital care, especially in cases serious enough to warrant a visit to the emergency department.

Anybody who has been forced to spend time in the emergency department of Barwon Health’s University Hospital can attest to how busy it can get. At full flight, it is impressive to watch. Rather than being overwhelmed by the seemingly endless demand and heavy workload, dedicated medical professionals efficiently juggle patients with a range of conditions of varying seriousness — efficient cogs in a well-oiled machine.

The only time the machine falters is when something places unnecessary pressure on it. The last thing these busy people need is to be distracted by matters that could be dealt with elsewhere.

Unfortunately, this seems to be too common an occurrence in Geelong.

At times yesterday there were up to nine ambulances queued outside the Ryrie St emergency department, with the medical professionals inside run off their feet trying to treat a backlog of patients.

This backlog wasn’t the result of a major catastrophe — according to a Barwon Health spokesman, much of yesterday’s problem stemmed from people with non-urgent medical conditions seeking treatment from emergency department professionals.

There are many alternatives available for people needing treatment for conditions that are not urgent. It is staggering that people continue to clog up the services of our already overworked public hospital emergency departments through ignorance, laziness or sheer convenience.

Imagine how disheartening it must be for emergency department staff to see waiting rooms full of people, not to mention patients left on ambulance trolleys with vehicles banked up outside the door.

We all can help make their job easier if we exercise a little bit of common sense.