A paediatric observation ward.

The paediatric ward and paediatric outpatients at Port Moresby General Hospital have become increasingly crowded during the past few years. 15% of paediatric admissions stayed less than 24 hours, which meant that much work was done unnecessarily on these patients who would be better regarded as outpatients. A paediatric observation ward was opened in September 1982 to help overcome these problems. An analysis of the 2132 admissions to the observation ward during 1983 showed that 89% of the children were later sent home without requiring hospital admission.