A Code Yellow has been called for Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) as it experiences a peak in bed demand and enacts capacity management plans.

Royal Darwin Hospital has been at, or near, Escalation Plan Level 4 for 10 days. This is despite concentrated efforts from all staff to improve patient flow through admission and discharge initiatives.

A Code Yellow indicates an internal or infrastructure emergency, which can include peaks in bed flow or IT outages. It enacts a number of practices to allow the hospital to closely manage the peak until pressures ease.

Patient safety is a priority and the dedicated staff at RDH work hard to ensure Territorians continue to receive the best patient centred care possible in these periods of high demand.

We urge people who have non-emergency health needs to see their GP as soon as they become sick to try to avoid becoming acutely unwell. This helps us care for those who most need a hospital bed.

We thank our hard working and dedicated staff and thank our community for supporting us during these peaks of demand, we appreciate their understanding and patience.

Category two and three elective surgery have temporarily been postponed so that patients with more urgent care needs can be admitted to hospital. NT Health will contact impacted patients as soon as possible with a new surgery date. Emergency surgery will continue as normal. Specialist outpatient appointments continue as normal.