Redcliffe Hospital hits elective surgery targets

Published Tuesday, 11 February, 2014 at 10:48 AM

Minister for Health
The Honourable Lawrence Springborg

Redcliffe Hospital patients requiring urgent elective surgery are receiving the treatment they need faster than ever before.

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said as of December last year, there were no patients waiting longer for urgent elective surgery than the clinically recommended 30 days.

“By making patients our number one priority, our LNP Government has been able to deliver excellent elective surgery outcomes,” Mr Springborg said.

“When the Newman Government won the election there were 11 ‘urgent’ Category 1 patients that had been waiting longer than the prescribed 30 days for treatment – we have reduced that to zero.

“Further to this, the number of ‘semi-urgent’ Category 2 patients that had been waiting longer than the prescribed 90 days for treatment has been slashed from 219 to 31.

“We have also seen a reduction in the Category 3 ‘long wait’ list, with just seven patients now waiting for treatment, down from 16 in March 2012.

“Under the former Labor Government waiting lists were left to spiral out of control, with thousands of Queenslanders unable to receive the treatment they needed in an appropriate time.

“Our CanDo Government has already invested an additional $1 billion into the Queensland Health budget and we are providing patients with the care they need.”

“Redcliffe Hospital has seen significant improvements across all elective surgery categories, which is a reflection of the hospital’s commitment to meeting the expectations of the community.

“Our Government’s policies have empowered doctors and nurses to achieve these wonderful results and I would like to thank and congratulate all of the staff at Redcliffe Hospital for their commitment to delivering such a high standard of health care.”

[ENDS] 11 February 2014

Media Contact: Alexandra Foley 0419 794 294

Number of Category 1 ‘Long Wait’ patients

March 2012

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

11

2

1

0

 

Number of Category 2 ‘Long Wait’ patients

March 2012

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

219

61

53

31

 

Number of Category 3 ‘Long Wait’ patients

March 2012

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

16

10

10

7

 

Elective Surgery Categories

Categorisation is based on a clinical assessment of the need with which a patient requires elective surgery. There are three main categories of urgency.

Category 1 - Urgent

 

Admission within 30 days desirable for a condition that has the potential to deteriorate quickly, to the point that it may become an emergency.

Category 2 - Semi-urgent

 

Admission within 90 days desirable for a condition causing some pain, dysfunction or disability, but which is not likely to deteriorate quickly or become an emergency.

Category 3 - Non-urgent

 

Admission within 365 days desirable for a condition causing minimal or no pain, dysfunction or disability, which is unlikely to deteriorate quickly and which does not have the potential to become an emergency.

 

Percentage of Category 1 elective surgery patients treated within 30 days

March 2012

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

93%

99%

100%

100%

 

Percentage of Category 2 elective surgery patients treated within 90 days

March 2012

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

56%

71%

76%

86%

 

Percentage of Category 3 elective surgery patients treated within 365 days

March 2012

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

89%

97%

94%

93%