This afternoon RCH Deputy CEO John Stanway addressed the media in regard to reported surgery and emergency wait times at the RCH. The transcript from the interview with Nine News is documented below.
Reporter: John, The Age has an article today that suggests that the hospital is struggling to meet benchmark times in surgery and…important treatments in children, do you accept the figures?
John: The story in today’s Age just isn’t right. The RCH has experienced huge demand in our services but the fact is that we’re treating more patients more efficiently in this new hospital.
Reporter: And what about some comments from some doctors that suggest that the hospital isn’t big enough to start with?
John: Well, as I said we are treating more patients more efficiently. For example, this year we’re treating 20 per cent more patients compared to last year and that represents 3,000 more children and young people treated in this hospital in the previous year.
Reporter: So you’ve made it very clear, the suggestion that the hospital is struggling to cope, you would suggest is just not right?
John: It’s not right, we are being very productive in treating more and more patients and we are certainly making this new hospital work very well for us. For example, we do treat the sickest patients here at this hospital. In the last three months 10 children and young people have received either a heart transplant or a liver transplant. And also, the critically ill patients we treat on time, all the time.
Reporter: And I guess…talking doctors, they say a lot of people are coming straight here instead of perhaps going to their GP or a local hospital, I guess in some ways you may be a victim of your own competence. What’s your message to parents who have a sick child…a child which they think is sick but not maybe sick enough to come to emergency here at The Royal Children’s?
John: Look we always want parents to make a decision and if they can go to their local GP that’s great but otherwise they can make the decision to come here. We’re going to work with our GPs, our local hospitals, to see whether we can work together to make sure the demand is spread more evenly across the state.
Reporter: I guess just finally, do you accept that there is pressure on the system at all?
John: Well, we’re experiencing, as I said, significant demand but we believe that we’re coping with that demand and, in actual fact, we’re actually making the hospital work very well, treating more patients more efficiently.