By PETER DOUGLAS
EASTERN Health has assured the end of the hospital bypass system will not adversely affect patients who are transported to Angliss Hospital.
From Wednesday, 7 October, hospitals can no longer request ambulances to bypass them and take non-urgent patients to another hospital during peak demand.
Despite the system being in place for 20 years, there has been debate over if the bypass system is the best way to manage the flow of patients in emergency departments.
After the system ceases, bypasses will only be able to be requested in exceptional circumstances, such as power failure.
Eastern Health has assured the community there will be no danger to patients or staff, as the hospital adapts.
The organisation didn’t believe there would be any banking up of patients at Angliss Hospital, or an unfair demand on staff, services or infrastructure.
Acting Program Director of Emergency and General Medicine at Eastern Health, Jenny Dempster, said the service would adapt accordingly.
“Eastern Health continues to work closely with Ambulance Victoria to ensure the timely transfer of patients continues when the hospital early warning system and hospital bypass are removed in October,” she said.
“Eastern Health has a strong commitment to ensuring patients arriving by ambulance are seen in a timely manner.
“We have systems in place to provide assessment, investigations and treatment to patients on arrival, including during peak periods, and have a strong record of achieving the state target for patient transfers within 40 minutes.”
Removing the hospital bypass system is in line with the recommendations of the Ambulance Performance and Policy Committee’s Interim Report, which believes it can contribute to ramping, takes ambulances outside of their area, and creates ‘ripple effects’ where hospital emergency departments go on bypass one after the other.
Presently, 18 hospitals use the bypass system to varying degrees.
Extensive work has been undertaken with health services and Ambulance Victoria in recent months to help them prepare for this change.
Many hospitals have already implemented initiatives to improve patient flow, hospitality capacity and emergency department access for patients, and some have already reduced their use of bypass in preparation for the change.
Victorian Minister for Health, Jill Hennessy, said the new system would be beneficial.
“We are putting patients first,” she said.
“This change will improve patient safety and care by ensuring all metropolitan public hospitals are open to receive incoming ambulances.
“We are focused on ensuring our hospitals and ambulance service work better together to ensure patients are taken to the right hospital at the right time.
“Our hospitals are improving their systems so they can better manage high patient demand, and by removing bypass, we will free up ambulances to respond more quickly to patients in the community.”
Tell us what you think. Will the removal of the bypass system place patients at unnecessary risk? Email editor@mailnewsgroup.com.au.
