Published Thursday, 18 January, 2007 at 01:40 PM
Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Infrastructure
The Honourable Anna Bligh
CAIRNS BASE HOSPITAL ED RECORDS BUSIEST EVER YEAR
18 January, 2007
Cairns Base Hospital’s Emergency Department had its busiest year ever during 2006, Acting Premier Anna Bligh said today.
“Our hard-working emergency department doctors and nurses provided treatment to a record 35,363 patients during 2006,” Ms Bligh said.
“That’s a seven percent increase on the 33,124 patients who presented in 2005.
“Of the 35,363 patients who presented in 2006, 10,996 or 31 per cent of emergency department patients were subsequently admitted to hospital as inpatients.
“A total 96.78 per cent of the most urgent Category 1 patients were seen immediately and overall patient waiting times for emergency department treatment improved during 2006.”
Ms Bligh said the ever-increasing demand for emergency department services reflected Queensland’s growing and ageing population.
“The Cairns population has significant numbers of older people, as well as young families with children, and both these demographic groups are heavy users of emergency department services,” Ms Bligh said.
“Continuing strong regional tourism growth is also putting extra pressure on emergency department services, with tourist visitor numbers to Cairns increasing at a rapid rate.
“For example, total overnight visitor numbers to Cairns increased by 7.5 per cent from 1,601,328 in 2004-05 to 1,720,919 in 2005-06.
“Domestic visitor numbers rose 8.6 per cent, from 842,000 to 914,000 in the same period, while international visitor numbers rose 6.3 per cent from 759,328 to 806,919.
“The Queensland Government recognised these demand pressures by committing to an $11 million upgrade of the Cairns Hospital emergency department by 2008-09.
“The expansions will provide the Cairns emergency department with an additional 12 beds – up from the current 24 beds – and we’re investing a further $6.39 million to meet the extra costs of running those new beds.
2.
“This expansion will help us cope better with the continuing growth in demand for local emergency department services,’’ Ms Bligh said.
“The emergency department is not only seeing more patients, but a greater proportion of people who were more acutely ill and required more time and effort to look after.
“This was evidenced by the much larger percentage increase in the number of people in the three most urgent categories of emergency department patients,” Ms Bligh said.
Queensland Health uses the Australasian Triage Scale to assess the urgency of patients in emergency departments, with category 1 being the most urgent, through to category 5 being non-urgent.
“The number of people attending the Cairns Base Hospital Emergency Department and who ere placed on the top three, sickest categories increased by nearly 12 per cent – from 15,019 in 2005 50 16,776 in 2006,” Ms Bligh said.
“By comparison the number of people in categories 4 and 5 – the least sick categories increased by only 2.7 per cent, from 18,105 in 2005 to 18,587 in 2006.
Media contact:
A/Premiers office - Steve Keating 322 44379 John Algate 322 45982
Cairns Base Hospital’s Emergency Department had its busiest year ever during 2006, Acting Premier Anna Bligh said today.
“Our hard-working emergency department doctors and nurses provided treatment to a record 35,363 patients during 2006,” Ms Bligh said.
“That’s a seven percent increase on the 33,124 patients who presented in 2005.
“Of the 35,363 patients who presented in 2006, 10,996 or 31 per cent of emergency department patients were subsequently admitted to hospital as inpatients.
“A total 96.78 per cent of the most urgent Category 1 patients were seen immediately and overall patient waiting times for emergency department treatment improved during 2006.”
Ms Bligh said the ever-increasing demand for emergency department services reflected Queensland’s growing and ageing population.
“The Cairns population has significant numbers of older people, as well as young families with children, and both these demographic groups are heavy users of emergency department services,” Ms Bligh said.
“Continuing strong regional tourism growth is also putting extra pressure on emergency department services, with tourist visitor numbers to Cairns increasing at a rapid rate.
“For example, total overnight visitor numbers to Cairns increased by 7.5 per cent from 1,601,328 in 2004-05 to 1,720,919 in 2005-06.
“Domestic visitor numbers rose 8.6 per cent, from 842,000 to 914,000 in the same period, while international visitor numbers rose 6.3 per cent from 759,328 to 806,919.
“The Queensland Government recognised these demand pressures by committing to an $11 million upgrade of the Cairns Hospital emergency department by 2008-09.
“The expansions will provide the Cairns emergency department with an additional 12 beds – up from the current 24 beds – and we’re investing a further $6.39 million to meet the extra costs of running those new beds.
2.
“This expansion will help us cope better with the continuing growth in demand for local emergency department services,’’ Ms Bligh said.
“The emergency department is not only seeing more patients, but a greater proportion of people who were more acutely ill and required more time and effort to look after.
“This was evidenced by the much larger percentage increase in the number of people in the three most urgent categories of emergency department patients,” Ms Bligh said.
Queensland Health uses the Australasian Triage Scale to assess the urgency of patients in emergency departments, with category 1 being the most urgent, through to category 5 being non-urgent.
“The number of people attending the Cairns Base Hospital Emergency Department and who ere placed on the top three, sickest categories increased by nearly 12 per cent – from 15,019 in 2005 50 16,776 in 2006,” Ms Bligh said.
“By comparison the number of people in categories 4 and 5 – the least sick categories increased by only 2.7 per cent, from 18,105 in 2005 to 18,587 in 2006.
|
Year |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
|
ED attendance |
26,433 |
27,625 |
29,246 |
29,089 |
31,255 |
33,124 |
35,363 |
Media contact:
A/Premiers office - Steve Keating 322 44379 John Algate 322 45982