This follows media reports of the recent medical transfer of the family's three-year-old daughter to Perth to be treated for sepsis. ACEM President Dr.
Opinion by Jessica Marszalek
Premium Content As far as theatre goes, it was perfect. Education Minster Grace Grace, with all the disdain a minister can muster around an opposition question a government doesn t want to answer, rose in parliament to take umbrage to the story of Trevor from Caloundra . The poor bloke, so Opposition Leader David Crisafulli s tale went, had waited two hours for an ambulance while suffering a serious heart problem and another eight hours at emergency until a doctor could see him. Walked into that one ⦠Education Minister Grace Grace during Question Time. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Victoria faculty chair, Dr Mya Cubitt, said on Friday that doctors and nurses in public hospitals had been dreading such a situation because they were still recovering from Victoriaâs second wave in 2020.
At its height, that outbreak saw more than 700 new cases in a single day. There were 768 deaths overall with hundreds of healthcare workers infected.
âWe are in the worst crisis that healthcare has faced in many years,â Cubitt said.
âYou could even say â and Iâd love to speak with [chief health officer Prof] Brett Sutton about this â that the access block and overcrowding of the system is the bigger public health emergency at the moment. Whether we have a Covid outbreak or not, emergency clinicians, and all of the many colleagues that we intersect with in the healthcare system, are under extreme pressure.â
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New standard to improve care of 7.7 million Australians who receive IV cannulas or ‘drips’ each year
For the 7.7 million Australians who have a peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) – also known as a cannula or ‘drip’ – inserted each year, their hospital experience is set to become safer.
With up to 40%
1-2 of all first-time attempts to insert a PIVC in an adult failing, many patients face the prospect of undergoing multiple painful attempts before a PIVC is successfully inserted. Once inserted, there is also a risk of complications, some of which are serious.
From today, a new clinical standard will change our approach to the use of PIVCs, by providing national guidance on best practice care and skillful use of PIVCs – and prompting health workers to consider whether a cannula is really necessary before insertion.
Morale âcatastrophically lowâ: Perth doctors reject blame for âbrokenâ system
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The peak body for emergency doctors says official responses to the report into the death of seven-year-old Aishwarya Aswath have glossed over systemic issues that had been repeatedly raised by clinicians for months.
Health Minister Roger Cook has repeatedly said staffing on the night was âabove its complementâ on April 3 when Aishwaryaâs parents waited nearly two hours to have her seen by a doctor at the Perth Childrenâs Hospital, despite raising concerns about her deteriorating state five times.