Queensland Children’s Hospital prepared for Brisbane residents to snub other ER departments.
DESPERATE parents driving past other hospitals to get treatment for their sick kids have been factored into planning for the state’s new flagship children’s hospital.
Queensland Children’s Hospital chief Dr Peter Steer said the hospital had to allow for an extra 10,000 emergency department presentations in its first year due to an expectation that parents would snub hospitals closer to their home.
And the hospital is now planning to accept all levels of elective surgery despite publishing material indicating less serious elective surgeries would be handled by general hospitals across the south-east.
Dr Steer insisted the new hospital, also known as the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, would have the capacity to accept both minor and more serious elective surgeries, as well as the extra emergency department presentations.
“The harsh reality is when every children’s hospital has opened around the world they have literally had a surge,” Dr Steer said.
“It’s happened everywhere else. Why wouldn’t we be ready?”
Plans have been drawn up to cope with an extra 10,000 emergency cases above the combined 80,000 emergency presentations at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Mater Children’s Hospital.
The South Brisbane hospital, which opens this year, will combine the existing Royal Children’s Hospital, currently based at Herston, and Mater Children’s Hospital.
Royal Children’s Hospital paediatric anaesthetist and medical staff association secretary Dr Robert Elliott said the expected influx was no surprise given public messages promoting a single, unified children’s hospital was the ideal.
“Personally if I had a sick child I would head to the children’s hospital,” he said.
“I’m not saying that’s the right thing to do … if it were a life- threatening situation most hospitals in Queensland would be able to cope with that.”
Source: News.com.au