ON MARCH 22 we dedicated this paper’s front page and lead story to a first-person piece on a visit I had to Ipswich Hospital’s Emergency Department.
It revealed the long wait people were experiencing at ED and the exhausted staff. My story was far from a criticism of the ED, it was more about the pressures faced by the nurses and doctors and advising people with minor problems not to clog up the system.
All hospitals are much more than just an Emergency Department, but that one department continues to be seen as the indicator of how a hospital is performing.
That is far from fair, but it’s something all health providers have had to deal with for years.
Last week Ipswich’s ED made unwanted media headlines when a disturbing story of a local woman’s visit after a miscarriage was revealed.
Every patient who walks into the department is seen quickly, but after that when a doctor eventually sees you is carefully prioritized.
Without making any assumption or comment on the case in last week’s headlines your wait could be just a few minutes if you are diagnosed with a life-threating issue or as long as 10 hours if it is regarded as minor.
When you walk into Ipswich ED at any time you will be confronted by a sea of faces sitting around, all looking concerned and frustrated.
ED is a depressing place to spend hours squirming in an uncomfortable seat while you watch people seeking help come and go.
You see some who have been sitting for hours go over to the triage nurse sitting behind a glass window and ask, “can you give me any idea when I might be seen?”
Everyone sitting in that room listens for the answer.
But of course, the nurse also has no real idea, they don’t know who will be in the next ambulance that rolls down the ramp or who will come rushing through the door.
It could be your neighbour suffering a heart attack or the child in the next street who was attacked by a rogue dog.
I made a minor suggestion to hospital officials after my long midnight visit that the hospital for a start should look at making ED a friendlier place to sit around in for hours.
A small coffee machine, a lick of paint, taking away old notices stuck around the walls and better chairs won’t help you with your health concerns, but it will show you it’s far from an uncaring treatment ward.
Of course, the real cure would come with more staff and better facilities and if you have been following recent stories in this paper you will know that is happening.
A satellite hospital will soon open at Ripley, a new ED is planned as part of the $710m Ipswich Hospital upgrade and work is underway on the second stage of Springfield’s Mater Hospital which will include an ED.
Our concerns about emergency departments are being heard and acted on.
They just can’t come quickly enough and in the meantime patients with minor concerns are still crowding the hallways.
