Message from Oz ..
Very heartfelt mail from the staff nurse in Belfast, and timely. Over here,
in the busiest ED in Western Australia, the safety valve is to go on
ambulance divert. Lots of browbeating from management, occasional eyebrows
raised from other hospitals who take up the slack, but what a relief !
Makes the department safe again within only a few hours sometimes, clears
the decks, and boosts morale of hard pressed staff, and I am sure far fewer
mistakes are made.
It took me a while to appreciate it, coming from the UK and the " we'll
just have to make do" mindset. My ( very NHS ) suggestion that we get some
screens to examine people in the corridor was considered unacceptable, and
I think quite rightly. I think we've been on bypass at least two or three
times a week for the last months. It's not seen as an admission of failure,
just that they want to maintain adequate standards of patient care.
Does anyone practise this in the UK ? And what criteria would you have for
going on bypass ?
Paul Ransom
SpR in shark-avoidance, Cottesloe beach, Perth.
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