Darwin Private Hospital

The severity of shortfalls in hospital and health care in the NT is due in large part to the decline of the Darwin Private Hospital and the services it once offered.

There was a time when the DPH was fully operational with its own Emergency Department. That was the first function to go in a steady progression of decline

To say that the Private Hospital has recently been reported as fully functional, except for the maternity ward, is hardly correct. During the weekend, the hospital, for all intents and purposes, is shut. There is no reception, making the DPH a five-day-per-week institution.

People with private health cover who need hospitalisation cannot be admitted to the DPH without going through the ED at RDH. 

Being admitted to the DPH is a long-winded process. I do not know why the Resident Medical Officer at the Private Hospital can’t approve admissions!

The decline of private hospital support has compounded RDH issues.  One can but hope that revitalisation will again offer the DPH as a viable alternative.