Summary
Cairns Hospital opened a new 32-bed surgical, orthopaedic and trauma care ward at its main site on the Esplanade, and as part of its master plan is developing centres of excellence, including one in toxicology.
Cairns Hospital has just opened a new 32-bed ward and dedicated trauma service to support the Far North Queensland community.
More beds for Cairns Hospital
The new ward is part of the ongoing Cairns Hospital expansion and is comprised of 28 surgical and orthopaedic beds and four high-care multi-trauma bays.
The new beds will support more elective surgeries while providing faster assessment and coordinated specialist care for patients with serious and complex injuries.
Cairns Hospital expansion project clinical lead Tamra Shakespeare said the new ward would allow staff to deliver higher level care to local patients, closer to their home and families.
“We are creating a dedicated service that brings trauma, surgical and orthopaedic teams together to deliver more comprehensive, patient-centred care,” she said.
“The team in the ward have worked so hard to make this service a reality.”
Another 32 beds are expected to open next year to help meet the growing demand.
New Trauma Service
Cairns Hospital is also introducing a multi-disciplinary Trauma Service, highlighting the level of expertise among its clinicians.
Having a dedicated trauma capability locally is critical, as more than half of Queensland’s major trauma cases occur in regional and rural areas.
The enhanced local service will ensure patients with serious injuries can get the specialist care they need, when they need it, without having to travel long distances.
As the largest referral hospital in Far North Queensland, Cairns Hospital cares for patients from the Torres Strait down to Tully – an area that spans more than 1,000km.
Becoming a world leader in venom treatment
Cairns is set to become a world leader in venom treatment with the launch of a world-first Toxicology Centre of Excellence.
The centre will be a key feature of the new Cairns Hospital Health Innovation and Surgical Centre and will position Cairns as a global leader in the field.
Emergency departments across Far North Queensland regularly treat patients for bites and stings from some of the world's most venomous creatures, including box jellyfish – known as the most venomous animal on the planet – as well as Irukandji jellyfish, taipans, eastern brown snakes, stonefish, stingrays, bees, wasps and redback spiders.
Clinicians holding a glass jar containing the irukandji jellyfish.
Clinicians also manage patients exposed to the notorious Gympie-Gympie stinging tree, whose venomous hairs can cause excruciating pain lasting weeks or even months.
The centre will strengthen research, training and clinical excellence in the management of envenomation (the exposure to a poison or toxin resulting from a bite or sting from an animal), toxicology and complex poisonings.
Both the 32 new beds and the future Toxicology Centre of Excellence are part of the $1 billion Cairns Hospital Expansion.
Development will extend through to 2031 to ensure long-term community healthcare needs are met.