The state opposition has attacked a decision to close acute ward beds at Northern Hospital in Epping, stating the closure is at odds with increasing regional demand.
The hospital will reduce the number of acute assessment unit beds from 24 to 16 from October 21.
Northern Health chief executive Jane Compton said the closure was in accordance with a decrease in demand during “warmer months”.
But Northern Health did not say whether it had restricted the number of acute assessment beds in previous years.
Acute assessment beds are used to treat patients with medical emergencies that require a “multi-day admission”.
A disclaimer on the Northern Hospital information page of the federal government’s My Hospitals website states that “bed numbers in a hospital vary with seasonal demand”.
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Opposition health spokesman Gavin Jennings said resources at Northern Hospital were already stretched.
“In the middle of all that, the hospital decides to take out all these beds,” he said.
Mr Jennings said he believed it was a budget issue, not a management issue.
He said there should be no need to close beds at busy hospitals if they received adequate funding.
Health Minister David Davis’s spokesman, Ashley Gardiner, said the decision was made by the hospital management “to meet capacity according to demand”. “This is not a budget issue,” he said.
Victorian secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Foundation (ANMF) Lisa Fitzpatrick said the closure of eight beds meant 6.89 equivalent full-time positions attached to the unit would have to be redeployed.
Ms Fitzpatrick said the ANMF believed the bed closure was a money-saving measure by the hospital.
She called on the state government to “be up-front” about cost-saving measures. “Don’t tell us it’s because there is less demand for health,” she said.
According to Victorian Health Services performance data, same-day medical emergency admissions to the Northern Hospital decreased from 9264 in 2009-10 to 8573 in 2011-12.
But the number of medical emergencies that required overnight admissions has
risen from 14,720 in 2009-10 to 15,312 in 2011-12.
Northern Health confirmed the closure would not be permanent and no jobs would
be lost. An extension of the hospital’s emergency ward is expected to open early next year.
