Top trauma doctor urges Premier to make a call on future of The Alfred

The Alfred’s director of trauma service has declared conditions at the hospital are “hopeless” and made an urgent call for the state government to reveal its plan for the top trauma hospital.

Professor Mark Fitzgerald says the hospital is in dire need of investment and staff need to know if it’s going to be upgraded or closed. He’s attempted to contact the Premier about the issue, but hasn’t received a response from his office, so he’s gone public.

He says a 2018 review described The Alfred’s operating theatres as “prehistoric”.

“The future is dependent on money. I mean, those operating theatres were designed during the Vietnam War,” Professor Fitzgerald told Neil Mitchell.

“The biggest issue with those operating theatres is not once you’re in them what you can do, but the changeover time between cases is extraordinarily long because of the bottlenecks caused by the old design, so we’re doing a lot less work than we should be able to.”

Press PLAY below to hear The Alfred’s director of trauma service’s message to the state government

Professor Fitzgerald says the staff at The Alfred are outstanding, but the hospital won’t be able to keep them if a decision on its future isn’t made soon.

“People are down and out about this and the reason I took it to the media was an attempt to really support the staff,” he said.

“I want the government, the Premier’s department and the Premier to make a clear decision about the future of The Alfred.”

In a statement, Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said “we continuously monitor population growth and demand across the health system to plan all upgrades, expansions and new projects to ensure that our health services can continue to deliver the care that Victorians need”.

Press PLAY below to hear Professor Fitzgerald’s urgent message

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