Some senior medical staff believe that service provision for injured patients is compromised by the resources available at Manning Hospital.”
- Professor Zsolt Balogh
Manning Hospital fails to meet 50 of the 81 essential criteria for it to secure the Regional Trauma Centre status granted to Port Macquarie Base Hospital. A new report lays bare the capacity of our hospital and concerns of senior staff.
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The finding of a Manning Hospital Acute Trauma report exposes significant deficiencies and differences in the resourcing and staffing of the two hospitals.
The report, by Professor Zsolt Balogh, the head of emergency and trauma for Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD), contrasts with the June 2016 assessment of Manning Hospital by HNELHD chief executive, Michael diRienzo.
Mr diRienzo stated: “Manning Hospital has 24-hour access to medical and nursing staff with appropriate skills and expertise to assess, resuscitate and manage patients with trauma.
“The hospital also has access to diagnostic services, operating theatres, an intensive care unit and inpatient beds if required.”
Mr diRienzo provided his trauma assessment of Manning Hospital to Manning Great Lakes Community Health Action Group chair Alan Tickle and Taree-Wingham Race Club chairman Greg Coleman in a letter dated June 27, 2016.
The catalyst for the letter and defence of Manning Hospital came in the wake of a five horse race fall at Bushland Drive Racecourse on May 23, 2016.
Six jockeys were injured in the incident and NSW Ambulance Service paramedics did not convey any patients to Manning Hospital for treatment - it prompted Mr Coleman to label it a “band-aid hospital”.
The Manning Acute Trauma Report is the outcome of a site visit to Manning Hospital on November 10, 2016 by Professor Balogh, Kate King and Debra McDougall.
It came after many months of lobbying to HNELHD for a critical review of the hospital’s trauma capacity by members of Manning Hospital Medical Staff Council, Manning Health Committee and more recently, the newly formed Manning Great Lakes Community Health Action Group.
The report critically evaluates the structure, staffing, resources and capacity of staff to deliver trauma services required of a regional trauma centre and exposes capacity deficiencies in a number of areas and concerns of departmental staff.
The report reveals “some senior medical staff believe that service provision for injured patients is compromised by the resources available at Manning Hospital.”
The medical staffing of the emergency department is described as “problematic” and “the standard of experience and performance is somewhat variable on any given day.”
Further, “if a moderate to severe trauma comes into the department there is no formalised trauma team response.”
“When a trauma comes in a nurse is pulled off the floor and the non-clinical team leader comes into assist.
“The rest of the department runs on skeleton staff during a trauma and often ‘fails’ during this time.”
The report lays bare the enormity of the challenge before senior Manning Hospital medical staff and 300-plus members of the Manning Great Lakes Community Health Action Group who are lobbying HNELHD and the NSW government to have the hospital designated as a regional trauma centre in a bid to secure additional funding for staffing and resources, and to eliminate the need for trauma cases to go to Port Macquarie Base Hospital.
