Sarah Courtney,Minister for Health
The health, safety and wellbeing of Tasmanians is the State Government’s number one priority as we continue to deal with COVID-19.
This week K-Block will welcome more women’s and children’s services into the new state-of-art health facility.
We want all of our patients to feel as comfortable and relaxed as possible at our hospitals and health services, and this is especially so for women and families accessing maternity and birthing services.
From today, 13 special care nursery bays will open in the Neonatal and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit on Level 8 East (K8E).
Then tomorrow, it is expected that pregnancy assessment, birthing and maternity, and women’s surgical units will begin moving into the Queen Alexandra Women’s Services on Level 7.
These are more exciting additions to the Royal Hobart Hospital as our staff adjust and familiarise themselves with the brand new infrastructure, including modern equipment and architecturally designed areas.
For the first time at the RHH, most women will be able to use water immersion during labour and consider birthing in water if clinically appropriate.
K7E Birthing and Pregnancy Assessment is an eighteen-bed unit which includes delivery rooms and birthing suites, seven of which have birthing baths.
Importantly, the birthing rooms have been designed to feel as home-like as possible with adjacent areas for assessment and observation.
Women who are 13 weeks pregnant or more, and who have a significant pregnancy related-concern, will be able to go directly to the maternity unit for assessment – ensuring accessible and timely care at the crucial early stages of these women’s pregnancies.
As Minister for women, I’m very pleased that K7 has been named the “Queen Alexandra Women’s Services” in honour of the amazing women who established and have continued to support Hobart’s dedicated maternity service for more than a century.
The Level 7 foyer hosts two walls of information panels showcasing both the history of birthing in Tasmania and recognising the contribution of the Queen Alexandra Auxiliary (QAA) from 1902 until 2019.
Thank you to former and current members of the QAA for their contribution to services for Tasmanian women and babies and for funding the information panels for the K7’s foyer.
These additions to K-Block arrive a week after K6E Childrens and K6W Adolescents opened.
I would also like to thank all staff for their hard work in continuing to get this facility operational which will deliver better outcomes and support for patients.
