- 53,804 patients were seen in Sunshine Coast Health emergency departments from April to June 2023
- 3,116 elective surgery patients were treated from April to June 2023
- Sunshine Coast Health has set up additional weekend and virtual care clinics to increase specialist outpatient appointments.
New data has revealed presentations at Sunshine Coast Health emergency departments have increased by 2 percent from April to June, compared to the same period in 2022, with a total of 53,804 patients being seen during this period.
Patients are given a triage category according to their level of clinical need, with Category 1 the sickest or most seriously injured.
Despite high levels of demand, one hundred percent of category one patients (our sickest patients) at all emergency departments were seen within two minutes of arriving to hospital.
The median wait time for Sunshine Coast Health across all five triage categories was just 16 minutes.
Sunshine Coast Health treated 3y,116 elective surgery patients between April to June 2023, which is an increase of 28%, compared with the same period last year.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Shannon Fentiman:
“While we have seen some improvements, we know there is much more work to do.
“Our emergency departments managed a record number of presentations, more than 10,500 than the same quarter last year, and our patient off stretcher times remained steady, at 55 per cent.
“Despite the rapid population growth we’re experiencing, and despite being the busiest in the country, our ambulance service is doing incredible work to look after their communities.
“These improvements would not be possible without the hard work, dedication, and commitment to patient care from our health care workers, who I thank for their tireless efforts.
“I can assure Queenslanders that our $764 million Putting Patients First plan to keep Queenslanders out of hospital is bolstering our frontline health workforce and strengthening the Queensland Ambulance Service.
“It is delivering more beds and delivering the major hospital upgrades and expansions we need to provide the best health-care possible.
“The Palaszczuk Government is making the necessary investments to provide quality healthcare closer to home, for all Queenslanders.”
Please attribute to Sunshine Coast Health Chief Executive Dr Peter Gillies:
“We are focussing on improving the flow of patients through our busy emergency departments with a number of initiatives including interim care beds, optimisation of virtual care, and an improvement to our transfer initiative nursing model.
“We have also introduced a number of Rapid Access Services that are supporting known patients living with chronic conditions to manage their symptoms and reduce the need for admissions to hospital.
“I want to thank our dedicated Sunshine Coast Health clinicians and support teams for the work they do to provide high-quality person-centred care.”
