I WANT to assure the people of Bathurst that their hospital is prepared and on an excellent footing to play its role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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All hospitals, including Bathurst, are busy, especially in winter.
However, in Bathurst you have a hospital that routinely performs well against its benchmarks, including patient experience, and a health team that has great leadership and true commitment to doing the best job possible for you.
OTHER RECENT LETTERS:
The emergence of COVID-19 has been concerning for everyone.
We know it will place pressure on all our hospitals, and so our plans to escalate our response are well developed and being put into action.
Bathurst will play an important role in the COVID-19 response for the local community and the District more broadly.
I just want to give you a snapshot of what's being done at Bathurst hospital to prepare for COVID-19:
- More than 350 people have so far been assessed in the Fever Clinic. They've been seen quickly and, where necessary, have undergone testing and been provided with advice on self-isolation.
- The number of ventilated beds in Intensive Care - which are vital for caring for people who are seriously ill with COVID-19 - will be increased from two to 12 as the need to escalate our response increases.
- Reconfiguring of the emergency department and a number of ward areas has been planned or executed to minimise the risk of transmission to patients who do not have COVID-19. These changes could also see up to 24 ICU bed spaces and 30 inpatient beds made available for people with COVID-19 if necessary.
- As with all other NSW hospitals, all non-urgent elective surgery is postponed to free up beds and staff, and to minimise the risk of the transmission of COVID-19 to surgical patients.
- Where necessary, staff have been undertaking additional education and training to ensure they are fully prepared for the specific requirements of COVID-19.
- The Hospital in the Home service is also being used to provide service to people in their homes and keep as many patients as possible out of hospital to free up beds, and to minimise the risk of infection to those people.
- Across the board, we're establishing a 'reserve' workforce of a range of staff, including doctors, nurses and allied health, to call on if we need them.
We know there are challenges ahead but the scale of these preparations in Bathurst show how seriously your health team is preparing for COVID-19.
In return, please keep doing your best to adhere to the social distancing measures that, so far, have been so effective in controlling the spread of COVID-19.
Please also take any opportunity you can to say thank you to any of your team in Bathurst.
All of them - our clinical teams, our kitchen and cleaning staff, porters, our administration and reception teams - deserve our gratitude for what they have been doing, and what they will do in the weeks to come.
