NSW trauma networks
The NSW trauma system is based on a inclusive networked system of hospitals designated to provide various levels of trauma management capability across the metropolitan, regional and rural settings in order to provide definitive trauma care to all injured patients across NSW.1 Each of the major trauma services (MTS) are networked with regional trauma services (RTS) and associated referring Local Health Districts as outlined in the tables below.
Adults
Table 1: Adult NSW trauma services network. Adapted from the NSW Health policy directive: Critical Care Tertiary Referral Networks & Transfer of Care.
| Major trauma service | Regional trauma service | Referring Local Health District (LHD) |
|---|---|---|
| John Hunter Hospital | Coffs Harbour Base Hospital | Hunter New England LHD |
| Royal North Shore Hospital | Gosford Hospital | Northern Sydney LHD Central Coast LHD |
| Liverpool Hospital | N/A | South Western Sydney LHD |
| Royal Prince Alfred Hospital | N/A | Sydney LHD Western NSW LHD2 Far West LHD2 |
| St George Hospital | Wollongong Hospital Wagga Wagga Base Hospital | South Eastern Sydney LHD Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD Southern NSW LHD3 Murrumbidgee LHD4 |
| St Vincent's Hospital | N/A | N/A |
| Westmead Hospital | Nepean Hospital Orange Health Service | Western Sydney LHD |
- Owing to proximity, hospitals within the Northern NSW LHD maintain a clinical referral network with Queensland.
- Western NSW LHD and Far West LHD have a split critical care and trauma referral network, where critical care patients are networked with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and trauma patients with Westmead Hospital.
- The Canberra Hospital maintains a referral network for the following hospitals: Batemans Bay, Batlow, Bega, Bombala, Boorowa, Braidwood, Cooma, Crookwell, Delegate, Goulburn, Moruya, Pambula, Queanbeyan, Tumut, Yass and Young.
- Owing to proximity, Albury Hospital maintains a clinical referral network with Victoria.
- Owing to proximity, Broken Hill Hospital maintains a referral network with South Australia.
Paediatrics
Children aged 0-15 years fitting the criteria in the Ambulance Service of NSW Protocol T1 (with due consideration given to paediatric physiological changes) should be transferred, if within the recommended pre-hospital transport time, to a paediatric MTS capable of providing specialised acute, diagnostic and definitive paediatric trauma care. These cases are time-critical and need access to definitive trauma care in as timely manner as possible.1
When direct transport to a paediatric MTS is not feasible, the child should be transported to the most appropriate adult MTS or RTS facility for initial assessment, stabilisation and appropriate transfer. Pre-hospital notification to the Ambulance Service of NSW Operations Centre and through activation of the Rapid Launch Trauma Coordinator (RLTC) model and the Newborn and paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS), will facilitate an early retrieval response to support efficient transfer to a designated paediatric MTS.1
Table 2: Paediatric NSW trauma services network. Adapted from the NSW Health policy directive: Critical Care Tertiary Referral Networks & Transfer of Care.
| Major Trauma Service | Child health network | Referring Local Health District (LHD) |
|---|---|---|
| John Hunter Children's Hospital | Northern | Hunter New England LHD Mid North Coast LHD Northern NSW LHD1 |
| Children's Hospital at Westmead | Western | South Western Sydney LHD (Liverpool, Fairfield, Concord) |
| Sydney Children's Hospital | Greater Eastern and Southern | South Eastern Sydney LHD |
- Owing to proximity, referrals from the Northern NSW LHD may go to Brisbane.
- Owing to proximity, referrals from the Far West LHD may go to Adelaide.
- Owing to proximity, referrals from the Southern NSW LHD may go to Royal Children’s Melbourne.
- Owing to proximity, Albury Hospital maintains a clinical referral network with Victoria.
See also
References
- NSW Health (2010). Critical Care Tertiary Referral Networks & Transfer of Care (Adults). Sydney: NSW Health.