Gold Coast hospital ED remains on code yellow

GOLD Coast University Hospital remains on a code yellow, with its emergency department still having to ramp ambulances and make patients wait in corridors until beds become free.

While demand at Robina Hospital has been manageable, locals are urged to consider using 13 HEALTH or to visit their GP if their concerns can be treated outside of a hospital setting.

A Gold Coast Health (GCH) spokesperson said when hospitals reached a level 6.3 for bed capacity (code yellow) it was not cause for alarm in the community.

“It is an internal activation which allows our hospitals to allocate resources,” she said.

“When we experience periods of high demand for bed capacity, we leverage availability between our two hospitals, as well as partner with the city’s private hospitals.”

GCH’s emergency departments are the busiest in Australia, often seeing more than 600 presentations at GCUH and Robina hospital on any given day. On Monday, the department saw 714 patients across both hospital emergency rooms.

“There continues to be an increase in numbers of acute presentations to emergency departments, resulting in increased admissions,” she said.

“GCUH also receives critically ill patients from as far south as Grafton in New South Wales and provides emergency and specialist medical services to people from northern New South Wales and parts of regional Queensland.”

She said GCH had operating theatres across three hospitals to cater for the demand for emergency and elective surgeries.