QEII Hospital Emergency Department has celebrated 10 years since the new unit opened with data proving they have almost doubled ED attendances and more than doubled the nursing workforce.
Doors to the purpose-built Emergency Department opened on 23 October 2013 and since that time, activity, staffing, and service delivery has continued to expand to serve the unique needs of the local catchment.
Emergency Department Director, Dr Edward Pink has been a fixture of the Emergency team since 2010 when the old ED was ‘essentially a cupboard with a bit of ambition’, and he said that planning for the new space was all about anticipated capacity.
“It was decided that what we really need to do is plan for natural growth at about one and a half per cent a year because the intention was for PA Hospital to take the additional work, all the ambulances and all the expansion,” he quipped in a trip down memory lane.
“We went from 37,000 presentations a year, to 64,000 last year - so clearly, planning is everything!
“We have gone way over what we ever expected to do in this space. We have crept up in demand, in acuity, and the only way that we have achieved this is because we are an amazing team who works together,” he said.
Nurse Unit Manager, Prue Cable said the growth in staff for the unit was a necessary biproduct of the increasing demand for emergency care.
“Increasing our full time equivalent (FTE) staff in nursing was an essential part of this growth. Since I started at QEII in 2015, the nursing workforce increased from a headcount of 70 up to 155 full-time and part-time nurses,” she said.
“More than just increasing our activity, QEII ED has produced some great successes with changes in models of care to cater for specific patient groups, and a real highlight for us was achieving the College of Emergency Nurses Australasian Emergency Department of the Year in 2016.”
A celebration event held on 23 October welcomed current and former staff to reminisce the highlights of long-serving staff, the exponential growth in models of care, QEII’s essential role as a provider of emergency services in the Metro South cohort, the many team parties, and the night a koala presented to triage.
Dr Pink summarised the foundation of teamwork according to the passage of time.
“It has gone so fast but we couldn’t provide the services to patients that we do without everyone here. It is amazing to work with all of you.”