Huge flu spike puts pressure on struggling regional health service
A stretched regional health service facing significant patient demand amid a late flu season has advised doctors to consider discharging patients earlier and without physical consultant review.
An email to doctors sent from Albury Wodonga Health's chief medical officer Simon Craig on Thursday, which was verified by the ABC, warned that the service was facing "overwhelming" demands that were expected to continue for days.
Doctors have been asked to consider earlier discharge of patients where safe, early plans and rounds, and empowering registrars to discharge without physical consultant review where safe.
Albury Wodonga Health faces inpatient bed pressure. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
The doctors were also asked to consider Hospital In The Home and virtual care options.
"As we progress, we will be looking as an organisation into how we optimise flow and use of beds," Dr Craig stated in the email.
"Our resources are limited and we need to all collaborate in this."
Demand on the cross-border health service has been at the forefront of community concern for years, while a proposed $558 million redevelopment of Albury's hospital has been criticised over whether it will meet the region's future needs.
Construction is underway at Albury hospital. (ABC News: Annie Brown)
Advocacy group Better Border Health (BBH) reported there was a 61-bed deficit at the health service on Thursday.
"This is not simply about getting through a difficult few days," BBH spokesperson Stan Stavros said.
"With daily bed shortages frequently reported at 40 to 70, we are starting each day behind.
"It should be the other way around; a hospital should have spare capacity to respond to surges in demand, not a persistent deficit."
A public sign by Better Border Health outlining daily hospital bed numbers. (Facebook: Better Border Health)
Late flu season surge
The health service warned residents on September 8 via social media that it was experiencing an increase in demand for inpatient beds due to a surge in respiratory illness, and a spokesperson said that it remained ongoing.
"This sustained demand is affecting patient flow across our hospitals and may mean longer waits for some patients requiring admission," the spokesperson said.
"Despite this, patients with critical or life-threatening conditions continue to be seen immediately and receive the urgent care they need.
"Our clinical and support teams are working hard to manage this demand, adapt our processes safely, and maintain capacity across our sites.
"Any operational adjustments we make during periods of high demand are made with patient safety as the first priority, and in line with standard clinical governance and protocols."
The flu vaccine for 2026 is still available. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
The surge in respiratory illness putting strain on Albury Wodonga Health has been reflected across Victoria as the Department of Health and Human Services reported a 400 per cent increase in flu cases since the end of July.
"We do expect to get seasonal spikes of flu each year and what is different this year is it is coming later in the season," Victoria's chief health officer, Caroline McElnay, said.
She said it was unclear what had triggered the virus to spike post-winter, but similar scenarios were playing out across New South Wales and New Zealand.
"It's not too late to get vaccinated if people haven't had that chance to get vaccinated," she said.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.