It follows police charging a 41-year-old woman for allegedly assaulting three nurses at Proserpine Hospital on Monday afternoon. The woman was charged with serious assault after the alleged incident in which three nurses suffered various injuries. One nurse was kicked and struck in the face. Ms Davies Jones said MHHS was encouraged to report incidents to allow the health service to capture a more accurate picture of workplace aggression . The increase in reporting shows us where the hot spots are and allows us to target resources and training, she said. We have seen an increase in the number of staff reporting aggressive conduct, not necessarily an increase in actual physical violence.
Premium Content
Subscriber only A woman will front court next month over the alleged serious assault of three hospital emergency department nurses. Police were called to Proserpine Hospital about 3pm Monday with reports of a disturbance at the ED. It will be alleged the woman, who presented to the ED, became verbally abusive towards staff and assaulted three nurses, kicking one in the chest. The nurses suffered injuries ranging from a bruised face to back injuries. Police arrested the woman and was taken to the Proserpine police station where she was held in custody and charged.
Subscriber benefits:
Premium Content
Subscriber only
A record intake of intern doctors will rotate through the Mackay Hospital and Health Service as they set out on their respective careers and medical fields.
The 46 new interns will be hosted at Mackay Base Hospital with rotations through Proserpine, Bowen and Mater hospitals over the next 12 months.
It is an exciting time for Dr Clarise Sornachalam who is following in her father and brotherâs footsteps in medicine.
âMy dad is a doctor â an occupation physician â and we moved to Mackay when I was five because of his work,â Dr Sornachalam said.
âMy brother decided to go into medicine and studied through JCU and worked at the Base.
Premium Content
Subscriber only
Mackay Base Hospital has received a state-of-the-art ‘Panther’ to boost its arsenal in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hospital’s new Hologic Panther Fusion machine can diagnose COVID-19, influenza and other respiratory conditions in about three hours.
The addition of the $275,000 instrument means hospital staff will no longer need to send as many swabs to Townsville for testing.
Staff have previously been able to conduct GeneXpert COVID tests, but the Polymerase Chain Reaction testing on the Panther is the gold standard and will mean faster results for people.
Mackay MP Julieanne Gilbert said the new Panther would be a welcome addition to provide locals with world-class healthcare.