The Top End's Royal Darwin and Palmerston hospitals have entered another "code yellow" emergency due to capacity issues, prompting calls from health staff for action from the Northern Territory government.
The president of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation NT branch, Dr Thomas Fowles, said the step was taken to ease pressure on the hospital system.
An email from NT Health has been sent to staff confirming the two hospitals would be entering a code yellow due to "high demand and high occupancy".
It said elective surgeries were under review with some surgeries on Friday and next week delayed.
Transfers and admissions of patients were being diverted "to other hospitals".
The ABC understands meetings were held on Friday over capacity constraints at the Royal Darwin and Palmerston hospitals.
It is the second code yellow for Top End hospitals in two days, with an emergency declared at Katherine Hospital on Thursday due to capacity constraints.
Code yellow declarations allow hospitals to take certain steps to ease strain on the system, including discharging patients earlier than normal and the cancelling of some surgeries.
Dr Fowles said that while the emergency department was struggling with patient loads, doctors would prioritise patients who needed urgent care.
"While we are in this crisis, we want Territorians to know, doctors are still here for you," he said.
"If you have an urgent medical issue, come to the hospital."
Dr Fowles urged patients with non-urgent medical issues to "please be understanding".
He said the union wanted government action to address "repeated region-wide failures of health care delivery", following a string of similar declarations at Northern Territory hospitals in recent years.
Code yellow revoked at Katherine Hospital
In a statement released late on Friday, the Northern Territory government said the code yellow was declared due to an increase in "patient admissions who require acute care".
"A code yellow enacts a number of practices and will allow the hospital to closely manage the situation and implement measures to ease pressures on the hospital system," the statement said.
"Patient safety is a priority, and we thank our dedicated staff at for their hard work during these periods of high demand to ensure Ttrritorians continue to receive the best patient-centred care possible."
It said the code yellow declared on Thursday at Katherine Hospital ended at 1pm on Friday.
Code yellows have been called with increasing frequency across the NT's hospital system in the last few years and were semi-regular before the start of the pandemic.
In August, the Royal Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine and Gove hospitals were all impacted by a warehouse fire that destroyed an estimated $30 million worth of medical supplies.
In February, a code yellow was declared across Darwin amid spiking COVID-19 admissions. There were also several declarations made throughout 2021.
At the time, then-chief minister Michael Gunner announced a pause to elective surgeries in a bid to redirect resources towards dealing with pressure in the hospital's emergency department.
