The first full day in Canberra Hospital's new emergency department was the busiest Sunday the department has ever faced, the ACT's Health Minister has said.
More than 500 patients presented to the new emergency department over the weekend, which became operational on Saturday morning.
There were nearly 300 patients alone on Sunday. This was 10 per cent higher than the average number of presentations on a Sunday.
"[It] was the busiest Sunday ever in the Canberra Hospital emergency department so the team coped remarkably well with that really busy period following a day of a lot of work to get everything moved across," Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.
The new critical services building at Canberra Hospital opened over the weekend. More than 1500 staff worked in the new building as they faced the herculean task of shifting patients and equipment over to the new building while trying not to disrupt patient care.
More than 100 patients were moved across - fewer than authorities initially said. Thousands of pieces of equipment were moved and there were 60 removalists on site.
The keys to the hospital were only handed over from the builder to Canberra Health Services 10 weeks ago.
"This has been very fast but we really wanted to make sure that once the building was finished that it was able to be used as quickly as possible," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
Elective surgeries began in the new building on Monday. Ms Stephen-Smith said from here on it would be business as usual.
"It's a credit to the teams that have undertaken all of the training, all of the scenario-planning, all of the simulation to make this happen," she said.
Canberra Health Services clinical director of anaesthetics Lance Lasersohn said it was a logistical challenge for staff in getting used to the new building and where everything is located.
He said it was a credit to the hard work of the health staff that the plan was carried out without any real trouble.
"I wouldn't say it's a miracle but it's close to it," he said.
"It's always a challenge. There's always teething problems. We can't say that every single person is happy with everything that happened on the day but for the most part if you walk around the hospital and speak to staff, everyone's capable and competent and happy that they've got the equipment they need to deliver services."
