Health Minister Steve Edgington says managing patient flows through the emergency department to the wards at Royal Darwin Hospital has meant there hasn’t been a need for code yellows but admits the capacity issues and bed pressures remain.

He told Katie Woolf a new ground floor ward with 32 beds is expected to be complete at RDH by the end of the year, helping ease pressure on the system, but up to 80 aged care patients continue to occupy hospital beds each day.

Mr Edgington says private patients have given birth to 13 babies at Royal Darwin Hospital following the closure of maternity services at Darwin Private, with 21 families taking up the government’s hotel and in-home packages.

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