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Doctors welcome Southern Health bed boost
20 January 2009
Victorian doctors have welcomed today’s State Government announcement of an increase in capacity at Southern Health with an additional 50 beds and one neo-natal intensive care cot.
AMA Victoria President Dr Doug Travis said the extra beds were a much-needed addition to an overstretched hospital network.
“These additional beds are vital for the care of our growing and ageing population,” he said.
“Pressures at Southern Health’s Monash Medical Centre and Dandenong Hospital campuses have escalated over the past year, with admissions increasing 5.4% and 7.6% for the respective hospitals.
“Increasing hospital capacity is a good start toward fixing the state’s broken system and improving patient care. We can then start adding innovation to the system to deliver the best possible care to all Victorians.”
Dr Travis said the initial December 2008 announcement of 276 extra beds for Victoria’s public hospital system was praised by doctors across the state and was a vital element in the public hospital doctors’ enterprise bargaining offer.
Dr Travis added that hospital beds were about much more than the physical bed. “It’s the additional medical and nursing staff, and the equipment to care for the patient that makes the difference,” he said.
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