The Health Department has hit back at claims from the nurses union that they are downplaying the severity of the crisis at Royal Hobart Hospital by not officially declaring a “Code Yellow.”
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation claims that the hospital is overwhelmed with patients due to staff shortages and high demand, leading to surgeries being canceled and the emergency department being overcrowded.
They believe the Health Department isn’t being transparent, but Department secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks has called the accusation “false”.
“At no point over the past week was it determined that a code yellow was required and no request to the Department to discuss a code yellow was made,” Morgan-Wicks said.
“The Department has been working in close contact with our Hospital Chief Executives to monitor access and patient flow through our services and assist with statewide movement as required to ensure all available public and private beds have been fully utilised.”
Morgan-Wicks said the hospital has plans in place to manage patient surges, reviewed regularly by doctors and the Health Department throughout each day.
“A code yellow was last called at the Royal Hobart Hospital in December in a COVID peak with hundreds of staff absences on planned and unplanned leave.”
“While the hospitals and our ambulance service have managed significant demand this week, the RHH did not reach the escalation threshold for Code Yellow.”
As of Saturday morning, the Royal Hobart Hospital’s escalation level dropped to level 3.
