Local health staff go above and beyond

LOCAL health staff have gone above and beyond in providing consistent care in the region during ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Planned surgery and outpatient services at Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) have now resumed.

Some services will be subject to staff availability, and emergency departments remain open 24 hours a day for people needing emergency care.

NNSWLHD Chief Executive Tracey Maisey said staff across the network continued to provide care in the aftermath of the weather event.

“They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and that is certainly the case when it comes to our workforce,” Maisey said.

“More than 370 staff stayed away from their homes – some for up to four days – to ensure emergency and urgent care services to patients across the NNSWLHD’s eight hospitals and four multi-purpose services.

“Most of these staff slept on-site in the hospitals to ensure they were able to report for duty the next day, lending a hand to unpack and deliver supplies and assisting in evacuation centres.

NSW Ambulance brought around 130 patients to emergency departments across the district on Saturday, March 8, following 118 presentations on Friday, both higher than normal.

Walk-in ED presentations were slightly lower than usual. Friday saw 435 walk-ins, and Saturday saw 520 – lower than the usual 600-plus daily presentations.

With the support of emergency services, technical support teams worked well into the night to distribute backup telecommunications equipment.

“While the emergency is not yet over, we are indebted to all our clinical and non-clinical staff for their incredible efforts to provide the best possible care for our community over the duration of this weather event,” Maisey said.

“We are also extremely grateful to those NSW Health staff, including registered nurses, mental health and allied health workers, who have travelled from other locations across the state to provide backup support in our hospitals.

“With their support, we are planning to resume normal operations.”