Ballarat Health Services is a Rural Base Hospital and Regional Trauma Centre servicing a population of approximately 200,000 people and a land area extending from the Western boundary of Melbourne to the South Australian border.  It is the primary referral centre for its local region and the secondary referral centre for much of Western Victoria.  It provides care in women’s and children’s health, psychiatry, and across most medical and surgical specialities’ with the exception of cardio-thoracic’s, neurosurgery and major plastic surgery.

Our case comprises a broad mix of medicine from major trauma to primary care across all age groups.  Our department is growing, with attendances currently in excess of 46,ooo and growing at 5% per annum, approximately 25% paediatric attendances.

BHS is a teaching, hospital and constitutes the largest centre in the University of Melbourne Rural Clinical School.

BHS Emergency Department is the only Rural Emergency Department in Victoria accredited by ACEM for 12 months of advanced training; we are also accredited for paediatric logbook training.  Rotations available to Emergency Registrars include:

• ICU
• Anaesthetics
• Paediatrics
• Psychiatry
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Other rotations can be arranged on request.

The BHS Emergency Department consists of the triage area, reception area, 3 resuscitation bays, 16 treatment cubicles (8 monitored), 2 cubicles (paediatric), 1 cubicle (ENT), 1 cubicle (procedural) and 2 consulting rooms.

Patients attending the Emergency Department include:

1. Urgent Emergency Medicine problems.  This may include Trauma patients, AMI’s etc.
2. Non Emergency Medicine problems. This may include injuries, illnesses, chest pain, abdominal pain, fever, eye and ear problems, women’s health issues, mental health issues, drug and alcohol issues, “non urgent” issues that still need to be dealt with in the ED for various reasons.
3. Patients referred by their GP for either assessment or admission.
4. Patients transferred from another hospital, generally the smaller hospitals’ urgent care centres, for assessment of admission via ED.

Planned Upgrades to the ED – Short Stay Unit

Work has commenced in 2009 to establish a purpose bulit 8 bed Short Stay Unit which will be located directly adjacent to the Emergency Department.  This Unit will cater for people requiring admission for observation and who can be discharged  home within a 24 hour period.

Other planned upgrades include 5 walk-in treatment rooms to be used for fast track care, children or ambulatory ED care.  Our Triage area will also undergo an upgrade.

BHS ED Home page Click Here