Royal Melbourne Hospital

Royal Melbourne Hospital

Aerial view of the Royal Melbourne Hospital (centre) with the old Royal Dental Hospital in foreground
Geography
Location Parkville, Melbourne, Australia
Organisation
Care system Public
Funding Government hospital
Hospital type General
Services
Emergency department Yes
Helipad Yes
Beds 571[1]
History
Founded 1848
Links
Website https://www.thermh.org.au/
Lists Hospitals in Australia

The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research. The hospital is managed as part of Melbourne Health which comprises the Royal Melbourne Hospital, North West Dialysis Service and North Western Mental Health.

The emergency department is at the City Campus, Grattan Street, Parkville.

History

1868 wood engraving of the Melbourne Hospital in its original location.

Established in 1848 as the Melbourne Hospital, it was one of Melbourne's leading hospitals. Originally located on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Streets, Melbourne, in 1935 the hospital was renamed the Royal Melbourne Hospital and, in 1944 it moved to Grattan Street, Parkville by provision of lands in the Royal Melbourne Hospital Act.

The Royal Women's Hospital was previously located in Carlton, Melbourne. The hospital moved in late 2008 to a new building, the new Royal Women's Hospital, co-located on the Royal Melbourne Hospital site in Parkville.

World War II

During World War II, the Parkville hospital, which was under construction, was occupied by the US Army 4th General Hospital between 1942 and 1944. While the hospital was under construction a temporary tent hospital was set up by the US Army in Royal Park just north of the hospital. Upon completion of the Parkville hospital the patients were moved progressively into the new accommodation which catered for 2,900 beds.

Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1943
Then-modern interior of Parkville's Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1945.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital continued to operate from their old premises on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Streets until the 4th General Hospital moved to Finschhaven in New Guinea in 1944. The Parkville buildings were reconditioned and the Royal Melbourne Hospital finally moved into their "new" premises in December 1944.

Services and specialties provided

The Royal Melbourne Hospital provides acute tertiary referral services at its main site on Grattan Street between Flemington Road and Royal Parade and ancillary services such as aged care, rehabilitation, ambulatory care and residential and community services through its Royal Park site.

It has one of the largest Emergency Departments in Victoria and is, with the Alfred Hospital, one of Victoria's two major trauma referral centres. The emergency facilities include: 2 trauma bays, 7 resuscitation cubicles, 25 general cubical beds and 17 short stay beds. There is also a helipad on top of the hospital so that urgent cases that need to be airlifted from regional areas can be transferred to the Royal Melbourne.

Most medical and surgical specialties are available at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. It is one of very few public hospitals in the Australasia that routinely performs robotic surgery. In addition, the Victoria Infectious Diseases Service (VIDS) is based in the hospital, as is the John Cade Psychiatry Ward and the headquarters of the North Western Mental Health service.

Medical specialties

Blood donation at the Royal Melbourne Hospital during the 1940s.

Surgical specialties

Mental health services

Miscellaneous

In addition, the Royal Melbourne Hospital has an Enhanced Crisis Assessment & Treatment Team & Triage Service (ECATT) team on call 24 hours a day to assess patients in the Emergency Department.

Postgraduate training, the clinical school and nursing education

The clinical school at Royal Melbourne Hospital is one of the clinical schools of the University of Melbourne School of Medicine (the others being based at the St Vincent's Hospital, the Austin Hospital, Shepparton Regional Hospital, Northern Hospital, Western Hospital, Ballarat Hospital, Bendigo Hospital, and Northeast Health Wangaratta).[3]

In postgraduate training, Royal Melbourne Hospital also produced the top candidate in the Royal Australasian Physician College fellowship exam in the year 2002, 2003 and 2013. In March 2006, it achieved a 100% passing rate for the Fellowship written exam. It is regularly one of Australia's top performing hospitals in these exams. It also produces excellent surgical candidates.

The hospital offers enormous numbers of postgraduate educational activities, including weekly professorial case discussion meeting, grand round, daily morning registrars teaching round, intern training sessions, advanced life support forums, and many other individual department-based educational sessions.

The new residents' quarter is located on the 8th floor, equipped with Foxtel payTV, wireless network, new computers, 10 bedrooms and stunning panoramic view of the city of Melbourne.

The Royal Melbourne Nursing Education Department provides continuing professional education opportunities for nurses that enhance practice and meet clinical service needs. It offers innovative programs for undergraduates, graduate nurses and postgraduate students as well as short courses, staff development and mandatory resuscitation training. It also offers some online training modules.

The innovative programs focus on recruitment and retention of nurses. The Royal Melbourne Hospital promotes an environment that encourages staff development and workforce retention through the implementation of initiatives, which focus on workplace learning and clinical facilitation.Nursing Education recognises the importance of meeting the learning needs of nurses caring for clinically challenging patients. Excellence in patient care is also maintained by the provision of continued support for new, junior and permanent nursing staff.

Fellowship positions

In addition to post graduate training, largely aimed at Australian trainees, the Royal Melbourne Hospital also offers numerous clinical and research fellowship positions, most of which are open to both Australian and international candidates.

Fellowships available include:

Research and other medical and academic collaborations

The Hospital is recognised internationally for its clinical research in oncology, neurosciences, infectious diseases, diabetes colorectal cancer and mental health.

In addition, there are close ties with:

Visiting the Royal Melbourne Hospital

Patients and visitors have access to a car park inside the hospital (accessed from Royal Parade), street parking in the streets around the hospital (4 hour ticket, 2 hour free and various 15 minute spots) and a patient transport bay which is accessed from Grattan Street. The patient transport bay (for pick-ups and drop-offs) is located approximately halfway up the hospital block, next to the red Emergency ambulance entrance. Drivers are requested to be mindful of not leaving private vehicles unattended and to observe low and high ambulance parking requirements. A patient transport ambulance has right of way in this area.

The number 59 tram stops on the corner of Flemington Road and Grattan Street, or the number 19 tram stops on the corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade. The hospital is located between Royal Parade and Flemington Road.

On weekdays the 401 and 403 buses operate express between the hospital and North Melbourne and Footscray stations, respectively.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "The Royal Melbourne Hospital". Our Health Service.
  2. ↑ "Radiology Dept, Royal Melbourne Hospital". Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "Clinical School Zones - Melbourne Medical School". Melbourne Medical School. Retrieved 24 August 2012.

Coordinates: 37°47′56″S 144°57′22″E / 37.7988°S 144.9561°E / -37.7988; 144.9561

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