The end of 24/7 ED care at St John of God Murdoch hospital

Workforce pressures have been blamed for St John of God’s decision to implement 8am-10pm opening hours at its Murdoch Hospital.

AMA (WA) President Dr Kyle Hoath said the reduction in service hours would increase pressure on Fiona Stanley Hospital’s emergency department.

“This will lead to even longer patient wait times and increased workload for our members,” he said while describing the move as “a symptom of the broader issues” facing the state's emergency departments.

St John of God Murdoch Hospital's chief executive Ben Irish said the change was being made to ensure the continued delivery of safe, high-quality care for patients in the face of the ongoing challenge of emergency physician availability.

“Reducing our opening hours will ensure we can safely staff our emergency department with appropriately qualified emergency doctors during the period of highest patient demand,” he said.

Mr Irish said workforce pressures were being experienced in emergency medicine hospitals across Australia.

“Unfortunately, despite our best efforts the ongoing challenge of suitably qualified and available emergency physicians has made sustaining a 24-hour roster in our emergency department impossible,” he said.

“We remain committed to providing private emergency care for our community and supporting patients to access care when they need it most.

“We have notified St John WA and we are working closely with our hospital staff, doctors and industry colleagues, to support a smooth transition.”

Murdoch is located a short distance from Fiona Fiona Stanley Hospital which has a 24 hour ED.

Dr Hoath said those working in emergency departments were already dealing with unprecedented patient demand, leading to expectations to work longer and additional hours, and dealing with ever-increasing workloads.

“This is not sustainable in the short term and is creating long-term workforce sustainability issues," he said.

Dr Hoath said many AMA members in emergency medicine were choosing to move to other disciplines or reduce contracted hours in order to avoid burn out and fatigue.

“Doctors in Training are increasingly rejecting careers in emergency medicine, in favour of disciplines with more certainty in terms of hours of work and workload management.

“A concerted effort is required on the part of government and private providers to attract and retain the dedicated health professionals who front up to work in the State's broken emergency departments every day.” 

Dr Hoath also said the situation highlighted the importance of a viable private hospital system.

He said private hospitals plays an important role in the wider health system by easing pressure on public hospitals, including through emergency care, elective surgery, step-down care and other appropriate services.

“When private services contract, the pressure shifts to the public system that is already under significant strain from high patient demand, ambulance ramping, bed block, and increasingly complex presentations,” Dr Hoath said.

“Governments, both federal and state, need to realise that the private hospital system is part of the solution.

“That means ensuring Medicare rebates and private health insurance rebates keep pace with the real cost of delivering private healthcare.

“If rebates fall behind costs while insurance premiums rise, private care becomes less affordable for patients and less sustainable for providers.”

St John of God confirmed the change would not impact permanent staff numbers in the hospital’s ED.