Improving efficiency at Sandringham Hospital
Since the Sandringham Community Bank Day Procedure Centre opened last year, more patients have been able to go home on the same day as their surgery. This means we often have empty surgical beds, so we've made some changes to bed numbers to improve efficiency.
“We now have fewer patients needing an overnight stay in hospital and, because of this, we often have vacant surgical beds,” Alfred Health chief operating officer Simone Alexander said.
“In response to the reduced occupancy – particularly on weekends and early in the week – we are closing eight beds on our surgical ward.
“We will continue to care for the same number of patients, and to meet the needs of our community seeking treatment closer to home.
“At the same time, we are looking to move our eight emergency short stay unit (ESSU) beds into a section of our surgical ward, which will create greater support for those patients and staff.
“Our services constantly change and, while no decision has been made about how the vacated ward will be used, its eventual use will be guided by the needs of our local community.”
Five full-time nursing roles will be affected, but those staff members are likely to continue working at Sandringham Hospital.
