The latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly report July to September 2023 shows public hospitals in Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) continued to increase planned surgery activity and deliver high quality, timely emergency care to the community throughout the quarter.
The latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly report July to September 2023 shows public hospitals in Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) continued to increase planned surgery activity and deliver high quality, timely emergency care to the community throughout the quarter.
MLHD Chief Executive Jill Ludford thanked staff for their hard work throughout the period, with improvements in a number of planned surgery and emergency department (ED) key performance indicators, despite high demand for emergency care.
“Our District continues to work hard to ensure patients receive their planned surgery as soon as possible, after non-urgent procedures were temporarily postponed during the COVID pandemic,” Ms Ludford said.
“MLHD completed 2,512 planned surgeries in the July to September 2023 quarter, an increase of 29.5 per cent, or 572 procedures, compared with the same quarter last year. Almost all urgent planned surgeries (99.5 per cent) were performed on time.
“Overall, we reduced the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for surgery by more than half over the past year – from 670 at the end of September 2022 to 298 at the end of September 2023.
“I would like to thank our patients for their patience and encourage any patients who feel their condition has may have deteriorated while waiting for their surgery are encouraged to contact their treating doctor who can review their condition and place them in a higher urgency category if appropriate.”
Throughout the third quarter of 2023, there were 39,131 attendances to MLHD EDs, an increase of 6.5 per cent on the same quarter in 2022.
There was a rise in presentations across the highest four triage categories, including a 7.9 per cent increase in triage category 1 (resuscitation) and a 14.8 per cent increase in triage category 2 (emergency) patients compared with the same period in 2022.
Despite the high demand for emergency care, the majority of patients (84.3 per cent) started their treatment on time, which is significantly better than the NSW average and the highest result for a district or network in the state.
Nine in 10 patients were transferred from paramedics to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time – also significantly better than the state average.
“MLHD’s ambulance transfer of care times are once again among the best in the state for this quarter and our emergency departments continued to provide care within timeframes well above the state average,” Ms Ludford said.
“These results are a testament to the hard work of our highly skilled workforce to improve performance. I commend our team for the dedication they continue to show to the patients in our care.”
All patients are seen and triaged on arrival at the ED and, as always, the most seriously unwell patients are treated first. During busy times, those with less urgent conditions can experience longer wait times when there are large numbers of seriously unwell patients being prioritised for emergency care.
INDIVIDUAL HOSPITALS
Wagga Wagga Base Hospital
There were 12,098 emergency department (ED) attendances at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital in the July to September 2023 quarter, an increase of 4.5 per cent, or 520 attendances, on the same period last year.
A majority of patients started treatment on time – better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
Nearly nine in 10 patients were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time, which is also better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
During the July to September 2023 quarter, 2,039 planned surgery procedures were performed, an increase of 40.6 per cent, or 589 surgeries on the same period last year. Almost all urgent planned surgeries (99.3 per cent) were performed on time.
There were 330 babies born at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital during the quarter.
Griffith Base Hospital
There were 5,928 ED attendances at Griffith Base Hospital in the July to September 2023 quarter, an increase of 2 per cent, or 116 attendances, on the same period in 2022.
More than eight in 10 patients (82.1 per cent) started treatment on time, which is significantly better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
Almost all patients (95.5 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time, which is also better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
During the July to September 2023 quarter at Griffith Base Hospital 278 planned surgeries were performed, with 98.4 per cent of all planned surgeries and all urgent surgeries (100 per cent) performed on time.
Throughout the quarter, 132 babies were born at Griffith Base Hospital.
Deniliquin Health Service
There were 2,420 ED attendances at Deniliquin Hospital in the July to September 2023 quarter.
Almost all patients (96.1 per cent) started treatment on time, which is significantly better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
Nearly all patients (96 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time, also better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
During the July to September quarter, Deniliquin Health Service performed 32 planned surgeries, with 100 per cent performed on time.
Throughout the quarter, 16 babies were born at Deniliquin Health Service.
Young Health Service
There were 2,452 ED attendances at Young Hospital in the July to September 2023 quarter, an increase of 28.8 per cent, or 548 attendances, on the same quarter of 2022.
The majority of patients (87.3 per cent) started treatment on time, which is better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
During the July to September quarter, Young Health Service performed 96 planned surgeries, an increase of 12.9 per cent on the same period last year. More than eight in 10 patients had their planned surgery performed on time.
Throughout the third quarter of 2023, 30 babies were born at Young Health Service.
