Praise flows for hospital staff’s ‘amazing’ efforts

PATIENTS and parents have taken to social media to praise the “absolutely amazing” efforts of Royal Hobart Hospital staff as they worked under extreme pressure on Christmas Day.

One woman on Facebook said she was taken to the emergency department on Christmas night and praised staff, who did “all they could to keep the place going and people alive”.

“There were just too many patients. The current system cannot cope with the pressures it’s under,” she said.

“There were no beds for obviously very ill people. Doctors were trying their best to see patients and resorted to doing so in the waiting room.

“Staff were being abused but they continued to be polite and caring, and got on with doing their jobs.”

The woman said one young boy waited for eight hours on Christmas night to get his broken arm tended to.

Another woman said the hospital nurses had been “amazing” over Christmas while she’d been in with her baby daughter. “There’s really no good time of the year to be in hospital with your child, but their festive spirit has made it feel a little more normal for us,” she said.

The Department of Health posted on Facebook its staff brought festive cheer to the children’s and adolescent wards on Christmas.

Staff wore Christmasthemed scrub tops and Santa came to visit the children spending the special day in hospital.

Specialist physician in geriatric and general medicine Frank Nicklason said current conditions at the hospital were “really extremely difficult”.

He said as of Wednesday, there were 90 patients in the emergency department, with all resuscitation bays occupied.

Dr Nicklason asked people to “reduce their risk” ahead of New Year’s Eve – by drinking in moderation and “looking out for your mates”.

“Try to help us out in the hospital because it’s really at a point where there’s no room to give,” he said.