NT Health has warned Greater Darwin residents not to attend emergency departments at the Royal Darwin and Palmerston hospitals due to a “substantial increase” in presentations of influenza A, issuing a statement on Monday night instructing residents to “only use the Emergency Department for emergencies”.

The statement said “actions are being undertaken to proactively manage capacity” issues at the hospitals and that “strategies are in place to ensure ongoing patient safety”, which comes amid years of staffing pressures and bed shortages at the hospitals.

The statement also said that a “Code Yellow” has not been declared and that the situation would be “closely monitored” overnight Monday into this morning.

“If you are experiencing a health emergency, call Triple Zero (000) and ask for an ambulance,” the Health department said.

“The [Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals] RDPH Emergency Department is open 24 hours and is able to provide medical care for emergencies. If you are unsure of how to manage your illness or injury, visit www.healthdirect.com.au or call Healthdirect for free on 1800 022 222.”

RDH was plunged into a Code Yellow earlier this month – the eighth in 12 months and the second in eight days – after experiencing “a substantial increase in patients requiring admission”.

NT Health also claimed on April 4 that “actions were being undertaken” to manage the capacity issues and that “strategies were in place to ensure ongoing patient safety”.

There were delays in publicly announcing the Code Yellows earlier this month and it is unclear when the latest emergency department issue may have first occurred.

Australian Medical Association NT president Dr Robert Parker said last August when the hospitals were plagued with Code Yellows that RDH had been under a “perpetual state of pressure”.

Code Yellow declarations are called when a hospital cannot cope with treating the patients it has, but can be called for various reasons, including a lack of beds, IT problems, or a natural disaster threatening its operations, and can mean patients are discharged earlier than normal, with some surgeries cancelled.

Dr Parker said the NT’s health system continued to be pressured by staff and bed shortages.

“The situation is the result of underfunding by both sides of government over many years,” Dr Parker said at the time.

“And as I pointed out in my letter to the minister many years ago, at that stage in 2019, you know, the hospitals were already under significant stress, which hasn’t got better and so the pressure continues.”