Queensland Hospitals Top the Nation

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg has welcomed the findings of a national study that found Queensland hospitals have the best elective surgery performance of any Australian state.

Mr Springborg said the 2011-12 Elective Surgery Waiting Times report found that Queensland out performed the next best state, Western Australia, by three days to record the best median waiting time for elective surgery of any state in the country.

“According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, median waiting times varied from 27 days in Queensland to 63 days in the ACT,” Mr Springborg said.

“This is a fine example of the good work of staff in the Queensland Health hospital network.”

Mr Springborg said while the national average for median waiting times showed a gradual increase – from 34 days in 2007-2008 to 36 days in 2011-2012 - and the more populous states increased even faster, Queensland remained at the cutting edge by increasing by just one day over the five-year reporting period.

“Our hospital and health staff have faced difficult times in recent years, so this good news is welcome indeed,” he said.

“Waiting lists are key indicators and the comparative performance of Queensland Health is something we can all be proud of.”

Mr Springborg said Queenslanders had open access to data on the comparative performance of local hospitals, including waiting times and Emergency Department performance data, which is published by the Newman Government online each month.

He said newly-created Hospital and Health Boards would help drive further improvements, which would be necessary to meet benchmarks set down as part of the Australia-wide national health reform process.

“The national health reforms require significant improvements in efficiency and performance,” he said.

“To keep making progress, we must strive to give the best patient care in an efficient and effective way, utilising the knowledge, ideas and commitment of our staff.”

Mr Springborg said changes such as the recent corporate restructure of Queensland Health were necessary to meet benchmarks and protect the state’s share of federal funding beyond June 2014. A 7.4 per cent increase in the 2012-’13 Queensland health budget would help promote further improvements over the coming year.

 [ENDS] 15 October 2012

Contact:  Cameron Thompson 0407-585230