PUBLIC HOSPITALS SET RECORD FOR PATIENTS TREATED

Queensland public hospitals set a record for total activity in the September quarter, treating more than 467,000 patients, including 28,916 elective surgery patients, Health Minister Stephen Robertson said today.

Mr Robertson said during the quarter, Queensland Health treated 324,517 people in accident and emergency, admitted 96,141 patients for day-only procedures, and operated on 108,525 overnight patients.

He said more than two million people also received outpatient services.

The new figures are contained in the State Government’s Hospital Performance and Elective Surgery Waiting List Report September Quarter 2006 released today.

“Our hospitals are busier than ever as evidenced in today’s report,” Mr Robertson said.

“At no time during the past year, have our public hospitals treated so many people on the waiting list – 28,916 elective surgery patients in a three-month period.

“We have set a record for the number of day-only patients treated and the number of patients treated who stayed in hospital for more than a day.

“Total number of patients treated during the period is 467,123 which is a record.”

Mr Robertson said despite the record activity, public hospitals continue to be challenged by ongoing and unprecedented demand for elective surgery.

“We are treating more and more category 1 and 2 patients – the most urgent cases – however the number of people waiting longer than the recommended time for surgery has marginally increased,” he said.

“In the September quarter, 10,716 category 1 patients received their operation – 725 more than the same time last year – however the percentage of ‘long waits’ has increased by 0.9 percent to 11.9 percent.

“Similarly, 12,909 category 2 patients had their surgery – 204 more than the same time last year – but the percentage of ‘long waits’ grew to 22 percent.

“The percentage of category 3 ‘long waits’ was stable at 32.9 percent.”

Mr Robertson said factors impacting on the waiting lists were specific workforce shortages, particularly in vascular, plastic and reconstructive, neurosurgery and theatre nursing.

“But perhaps the single biggest factor continues to be emergency surgery,” he said.

“Our public hospitals will always prioritise patients requiring emergency operations.

“That means that if hospitals experience an influx of critically ill or injured patients who require immediate surgery at one time, clinicians may be forced to re-schedule some elective surgery patients.

“This is an unfortunate, but necessary, part of running a busy public hospital.

“August was the busiest month on record for emergency departments with 77,000 patients seen in our top 21 hospitals.

“August also set a record for the most number of hospital admissions with 71,079 patients treated that month.”

Mr Robertson said the State Government would address the most urgent of ‘long waits’ by recruiting to Queensland Health’s key surgical and theatre nurse vacancies and establishing three Elective Surgery Centres.

“Queensland Health has 448 more doctors and 1,826 more nurses than it did in June last year but we will continue to recruit aggressively so we have the clinicians to tackle our problem areas in elective surgery,” he said.

“In addition, work has stepped up to immediately establish three Elective Surgery Centres at Redcliffe, Caboolture and QEII Hospitals worth $163.94 million.

“These centres will focus solely on elective surgery patients without being compromised by competing demands brought by emergency departments.

“I expect these centres, once fully staffed, to make a significant difference to elective surgical activity.”

Mr Robertson said today’s inaugural report was yet another example of the State Government’s commitment to openness and accountability regarding the state of Queensland’s public health system.

“This report details an unprecedented level of hospital data and information and provides a comprehensive snapshot of how our health system is performing,” he said.

“It is a far cry from the days of the Coalition Government which hid even basic information such as waiting lists and kept Queenslanders in the dark.”

The Hospital Performance Report and the Elective Surgery Waiting List Report, September quarter, can be found on the Queensland Health’s website: www.health.qld.gov.au.

MEDIA: Joshua Cooney 3234 1185 or 0409 069 056