ED expansion plans step in the right direction

September 12, 2007

The AMA (WA) has welcomed the State Government's decision to undertake a $40 million expansion of public hospital emergency departments.

"It's taken a long time for the penny to drop, but there is finally recognition that the crisis in our EDs can no longer be ignored," said association President Prof Geoff Dobb.

"Upgrading these departments will help reduce overcrowding which in turn will lead to better patient outcomes and better working environments for staff."

Prof Dobb said emergency doctors and nurses working at Royal Perth Hospital would be extremely relieved that the hospital would be one of the first to benefit from the redevelopment program.

"The stress on staff, patients and ambulance drivers trying to cope with the overcrowding has been chronic for the last few years," he said.

"Thankfully, Health Minister Jim McGinty has now acknowledged the situation is almost out of control and has decided to do something further to ease the problem."

Prof Dobb said the expansion of RPH's emergency department with more treatment bays and more floor space would not solve overcrowding on its own.

"There also needs to be additional staff, sufficient resources and extra beds to cope with the increased number of patients flowing from the ED into the hospital wards," he said.

Prof Dobb said there would also be ongoing pressure on emergency department's at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Fremantle Hospital which were not part of the immediate expansion plan.

"Certainly, we are now heading in the right direction and the expansion of EDs at Peel, Armadale, Joondalup and Rockingham hospitals should take some of the pressure off the central hospitals and improve services to people in those regions," he said.

"But how quickly these initiatives are able to ease the present crisis remains to be seen."

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