My unwanted detour to the ED took me back to the 1980s
I recently had the illuminating experience of being a hospital patient. I’d been postponing surgery for a long-term umbilical hernia — until one day, complications…
Tag: Emergency Departments
Hospital purgatory: The patients trapped in acute beds with nowhere else to goÂ
Behind gridlocked EDs, ambulance ramping, angry patients, and frustrated doctors often lies a frail elderly patient stuck in the wrong kind of bed. Dr Chloe…
Is hospital admission really the gold standard for mental health patients presenting to ED?
Sometimes, clusters of thoughts or issues occur together, leading to greater insights. It was not long after I had written my AusDoc article on the…
Hospital ED accused of ‘cooking the books’ to hit government targets
A hospital ED is under investigation after clerical staff were accused of doctoring data to hit ambulance ramping targets. According to media reports, staff at Melbourne’s…
GPs paid more than anaesthetists for hospital locum jobs — see the list
GPs rank seventh out of 15 specialties for hospital locum pay rates, averaging $234 an hour, an agency has found. Data on more than 4500…
Parental instincts better than vital signs at predicting clinical deterioration, study suggests
Amid political fallout from a two-year-old’s death while awaiting treatment in ED, a study has suggested parental concerns can predict a child’s clinical deterioration better…
Cardiac anaesthetists hid ultrasound machines because of shortages at $600 million public hospital
Billed as a state-of-the-art facility, Northern Beaches Hospital had so few ultrasound machines in operating theatres, anaesthetists began hiding them to ensure they had access,…
Hospital should be a last resort for elderly patients, not the default destination
The recent AusDoc article on elderly patients languishing in hospital beds without needing acute care inspired me to think about the changing roles of hospital…
Elderly patients spend too long in hospital wards — what can get them out of there quickly and safely?
Maintenance patients — that is what a report on NSW Health calls elderly people who languish on wards without actually needing acute care. “On any…
Healthscope offers to return control of Northern Beaches Hospital to public hands
Sydney’s embattled Northern Beaches Hospital looks set to be returned to state control after its private operator Healthscope proposed a handover before its contract expires.…
