Wait times have returned to normal at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital after some patients had to wait 12 hours to see a doctor.

There were 100 patients seeking treatment at the hospital’s emergency department on Monday night, leading to warnings for families to find alternative care when possible.

By 7am on Tuesday, there were only 14 patients seeking emergency care with expected wait times dropping down from 12 hours to about four.

It was not rising COVID-19 cases driving the emergency department demand, but patients presenting with gastro-like symptoms and fevers, Royal Children’s Hospital chief executive Bernadette McDonald said.

She reminded families to seek a GP, the nurse on call service or the Victorian virtual emergency department if their child’s condition was not urgent.

“We would never turn anybody away,” Ms McDonald told ABC Radio Melbourne on Tuesday morning.

“If people come to our emergency department, we will treat them in clinical urgency.

“It does unfortunately mean that when we have the challenges like last night, some people who are less clinically urgent will have to wait a long time

“Yesterday was about just asking parents to think about before you pop in the car… is there an alternative that you might be able to use.”

Some elective surgeries were postponed on Monday due to the emergency department demand. Ms McDonald said the hospital would look to reschedule those operations as soon as possible.

-AAP