New emergency unit delivers relief

SOME relief is on the way for Royal Hobart Hospital’s overloaded emergency department with the completion of a new emergency medical unit.

The new unit, due to open next week, will increase the department’s capacity by 34 per cent.

Premier and Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the government was working to “supersize and modernise” the RHH emergency department in two stages of development.

“The completion of the first stage has delivered a new $10m purpose-built shortstay unit adding another 28 bed spaces that will improve operational efficiency, infection control, and patient privacy,” Mr Rockliff said.

“The unit will open to patients in the coming weeks and will deliver a 34 per cent boost to our capacity – or a total increase of 82 beds, helping to meet the ever-growing demand for emergency care in southern Tasmania.

“The second stage of the expansion is expected to be completed by 2026.”

RHH emergency department acting director Paul Scott said the new ward due to open next week offered a combination of beds and recliners for people requiring around 24-hours of care.

“We are super excited to have this area open.

“There’s 28 new points of care and it’s really state of the art in terms of what's available for this kind of space,” Dr Scott said.

“Using this type of unit is very important for large emergency departments where we actually cycle a large number of patients through an emergency medical unit and these people need up to 24-hours of care.

“We can do that safely in this area. That will allow us to more efficiently manage people in the main emergency department area and get people to where they need to be.”

Mr Rockliff’s tour of the new ward coincided with the a further de-escalation of the hospital’s Covid management plan. As of Wednesday the hospital returned to level one of the escalation plan, reflecting a reduced number of Covid-positive patients in the hospital and reduced community transition of Covid.

“I would like to extend my thanks to each and every one of our RHH staff for their outstanding efforts during the most recent period at Covid escalation levels in our hospital,” Mr Rockliff said.

The latest Tasmanian Covid statistics show a seven day average of 109 new cases per day.

There’s 28 new points of care and it’s really state of the art in terms of what's available for this kind of space

Dr Paul Scott