The Adult Burns Service at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) provides specialised acute, surgical and reconstructive care to those who have received a burn injury by thermal, chemical, electrical or radiation causes.
This 15-bed unit is the statewide centre for burns patients over the age of 16. Its catchment area extends across South Australia, the Northern Territory and western parts of New South Wales and Victoria.
The RAH Burns Unit is renowned for its innovation in burn care and is the only centre in Australia verified by the American Burns Association (ABA) and American College of Surgeons (ACS).
Every year, the Burns Unit treats approximately 450 inpatients and sees around 3,000 outpatient visits.
The Burns unit provides services for:
- Acute burn treatment
- Burns surgical intervention
- Burns reconstruction
- Scar Management
- Rural and remote burn care via trained ‘link specialists’ and telemedicine consultations
- Mobile Burns Assessment Team (BAT) for deployment in disaster response situations
The Burns Unit participates in:
- State and national education delivery
- Community prevention strategy development and implementation
- Globally recognised research
- Fund raising for burns patients and services
The Burns Unit multidisciplinary team is represented by health professionals across the following specialties:
- Medical
- Surgical
- Nursing
- Physiotherapy
- Occupational therapy
- Dietetics
- Speech pathology
- Psychology
- Social work
Outpatient Appointments
When attending a burns outpatient appointment please:
- Take your recommended analgesia prior to
- Bring a copy of your referral letter
- Bring your current Medicare card and applicable concession cards or Private Health Card
Referrals
Patients may be referred to the Adult Burns Service by a variety of sources including:
- General practitioners
- Specialists
- Internal clinics
- Emergency Departments
- Medical officers within the hospital
- Private rooms
- Other hospitals
- Other agreed health care professionals as per the hospitals guidelines.
Burns referrals will be triaged by the Burns Consultant, Burns Fellow, Burns Clinical Practice Consultant/Nurse Practitioner/Clinical Service Coordinator/Senior Registered Nurse.
For further information, contact rah.burns@sa.gov.au.