Hospital Bypass

St John Ambulance (6DS), AMS, RFDS etc. Frequencies, callsigns and discussion.

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Always RX
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Hospital Bypass

Post by Always RX »

I still dont get it.... this IS 2007 isnt it?.
I am listening to the SJA dispatcher doing a great job with a dodgy data system ( goodonya Troy! ) and I hear him say to the mobiles that Joondalup , Royal Perth AND Rockingham are all on bypass.......What the hell?!
I just dont get what the point of an emergency department is when an ambo has to drive right on by it , come on you SJA guys tell us what this means to you guys and girls and how hard does it make your lives??
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Post by AcesAP »

The bypass issue is complex.

The hospitals say that they are not able to provide a high standard of care when they are way over numbers and the staff are dealing with more than the normal number of patients.

From an ambulance point of view, bypass forces ambulances to travel a long way out of their area, increasing response times overall. It means that patients are not always able to be taken to the hospital of their choice, which often adds significant distress to an already stressful situation.

The SJA operations centre has a staff member who is responsible for spreading the patient load across all emergency departments, to alleviate bypass. However, it does not address the issues above that are important the the on road crews.

Hope this helps.
Markmywords

Post by Markmywords »

Hrmm bypass wonders will never cease haha nothings changed
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Post by Ambul8 »

I think one of the main issues to be over come is the overcrowding of hospital EMERGENCY departments with the following:

* i have taken speed and now my pulse is racing
* i have an ingrown toenail
* i have been sick with a cold for 3 weeks, now i must be seen at an ED
* ive had 23 litres of jim beam and cola and im a 17 y/o female, now i feel strange so my drink MUST have been spiked.

im sure u get the idea

it all puts a strain. It is my belief that ED;s should only see patients with urgent or emergency issues, but to do this the Govt must address the critical shortage of GP's and the poor access to GP's after hours and on weekends.

Not to mention ward block, hospitals have so many people admitted who are better suited to lower care environments such as transitional care units or nursing homes.

Then there is the issue of why the hospital went on bypass. I know factually that RPH went on bypass when it was told it was going to be getting 4 critical trauma patients, 2 from Rescue 65, in a short period of time.

Then you get joondalup that goes on bypass at the drop of a hat.

And dont forget that when a hospital such as joondalup or rockingham goes on bypass, half the damn ambos in the fleet are used transferring patients to the city hospitals, which are already crammed to the hilt.

i guess its just an overall sign of the health system not able to cope with WA's booming economy and the increasing population, and the increasing community spirit of getting someone else to sort it out
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Markmywords

Post by Markmywords »

One must wonder when people will realise that an ambulance IS not a taxi service, an emergency department is for EMERGENCYS, who knows more funding for after hours bulk billing clinics could be a start.

My experience working in the Vic Ambulance Service you take a patient to the alfred with lets say anything that is surely not an emergency they all go via triage then straight into the clinic not to clog an ED bed, this isnt available at all the hospitals but still.

One thing that i HATED and is purely with the dispatch system is 95% of calls would be a signal 1 (same as a P1) because the information punched intot he system would tell the dispatcher what priority the crew had to go and if back up should go.

Anyways i will be keen to see what impact the new hospital would make out at murdoch when its up and running.
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Post by Chicky »

Markmywords wrote:Anyways i will be keen to see what impact the new hospital would make out at murdoch when its up and running.
The new hospital? No impact whatsoever. The Fiona Stanley with be a major teaching hospital, yes, with trauma, theatre, all the specialty stuff etc... and the promise of so many beds. But think of this: Fremantle will be basically turned into a nursing home, all their current specialty services will be transferred over to FSH. Royal Perth will be shut down and their services will do the same, and sold off for property value. Rockingham hospital is expecting major upgrade too with more beds, but they can't even staff it with doctors/nurses as it currently is. The promise of more beds to counteract the closing ones are not in connection with the increase in Perth's population. This bypass issue will always be around, and will only get worse unless there are major changes to deal with the ageing population.

Now thats my 2 cents for now... I could go on and on about it but I won't :wink:
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Markmywords

Post by Markmywords »

oh tru thanks for the info chicky-endless goverment promises again at least they fund SJA adequaetly to a point !!!!
Chicky
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Post by Chicky »

Markmywords wrote:oh tru thanks for the info chicky-endless goverment promises again at least they fund SJA adequaetly to a point !!!!
Lets not go there either, otherwise this thread will be miles long! :lol:
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