NO locum doctor was on duty to provide medical services to the six patients at Millicent and District Hospital for a 56-hour period this month.
During the period, all ambulance cases were diverted to Mount Gambier Hospital between 8am on June 11 and 4pm on June 13.
The State Government agency which runs Millicent Hospital said the absence of a locum doctor was due to an “unfortunate booking error”.
There have been other recent times when a locum doctor has not been on duty at Millicent, but this latest 56-hour absence is the longest by far.
The latest situation has been explained in a statement issued by the Adelaide-based media unit of Country Health SA on behalf of Millicent Hospital executive officer and director of nursing Michelle de Wit.
“Earlier this month Millicent Hospital experienced a 2.5-day gap in the medical roster due to unforeseen circumstances,” Ms De Wit said.
“While this gap was unforeseen, robust measures were put in place to ensure patient care was not compromised.
“This included having a SA Ambulance Service advanced care paramedic onsite while nursing staff continued to provide patient care and ambulance presentations were diverted to Mount Gambier Hospital.
“South East director of medical services Dr Chris Tan personally reviewed patients admitted to the hospital and the SAVES (South Australian Virtual Emergency Service) program was also available from 11pm until 7am.
“Gaps in medical services at Millicent Hospital are rare, but when this occasionally occurs due to sickness or unforeseen circumstances, other highly skilled practitioners provide cover to ensure patients continue to receive the best possible care.”
A Country Health SA spokesperson said SAVES operates avt the discretion of the on-call doctor between the hours of 11pm and 7am and enables country patients to conduct face-to-face consults with doctors at the Rural Doctors Workforce Agency in Adelaide using videoconferencing equipment.
“Country Health SA expects to make an announcement in the coming weeks about the agency that will provide general medical services to patients at the Millicent and District Hospital,” the spokesperson said.
“We also had surgeons and anaesthetists onsite at Millicent during business hours of Tuesday and Wednesday for elective surgery, who could assist as required.
“SA Ambulance Service diversions from Millicent to Mount Gambier Hospital happen regularly if the ambulance service assesses a patient as being of a higher acuity.
“There were six patients at Millicent during the period there was a gap in doctor coverage.
“All patients were stable and received appropriate care and support.
“All options were explored at short notice and in this particular case, the measures put in place were assessed as safe and appropriate to maintaining high quality patient care.”
The Medical Clinic Millicent practice manager Kerri Betts said her Short Street facility has 10 doctors and provides assistance.
“We often see patients when locum doctors are not available and we do that as much as we can,” Ms Betts said.
The South Eastern Times has sought comment from Health Minister Stephen Wade, Millicent Health Advisory Council presiding member Jennifer Syme and member for MacKillop Nick McBride.
