ELECTIVE SURGERY WAIT TIMES SLASHED AT BUNDABERG HOSPITAL

A sharp drop in the number of long wait elective surgery patients has been recorded at Bundaberg Hospital, according to the latest Quarterly Public Hospitals Performance Report.

Health Minister Stephen Robertson said the number of long wait patients fell to just three at 1 October 2008, compared to 41 in July 2008 and 20 for the same quarter last year.

“A total of 571 patients were taken off the elective surgery waiting list in Bundaberg over the last three months, an increase of 1.1 per cent from the September 2007 quarter,” he said.

“The number of long wait patient numbers fell to three at 1 October 2008, compared to 41 in July 2008 and 20 for the same quarter last year.

“There are no category two or three patients waiting for elective surgery longer than is clinically desirable, and the number of category one patients has fallen since the appointment of a urologist.

“There has been an increase in major surgery being performed at Bundaberg Hospital, this includes more complex procedures for bowel and breast cancer, which involves more theatre time.

“Our Surgery Connect program has strengthened existing services, relieving some of the pressure on elective surgery waiting lists.”

The Quarterly Report also shows that of the category one patients treated, half were treated within 19 days and 90 per cent were treated within 35 days.

With category 2, half were treated within 62 days and 90 per cent were treated within 114 days. And in category 3, half were treated within 260 days and 90 per cent were treated within 397 days.

Mr Robertson said there were 823 patients on the elective surgery waiting list in all categories at October 1, 2008 was 823 – an increase from 771 at 1 July, 2008 but a decrease compared to 827 from the same quarter last year.

“Category 2 long-waits remain stubborn and have increased slightly over the quarter,” he said.

“This is partly due to our focus on Category 1 elective surgery in our hospitals and Surgery Connect’s focus on mostly Category 3 ‘long waits’, and this is something we will be paying more attention to over this quarter.”

Mr Robertson said emergency department attendances at Bundaberg Hospital were continuing to outstrip population growth.

“Hospital staff attended to 9106 emergency cases in the September quarter – an increase of 8.3% per cent (8412 patients) compared to the June 2008 quarter and 1.4% (8982 patients) for the same quarter last year.

“This represents an average of 98 patients receiving medical attention each day during July, August and September.”

“With hospital admissions state-wide increasing by more than double population growth, I have endorsed the *eight point, ‘Whole-of-Hospital Plan’ developed by Senior Emergency Clinicians to reduce access block across our major public hospitals (attached) to reduce emergency department and admission waiting times even further.”

Outpatient demand had also increased with 13,145 occasions of outpatient services in the September quarter, a 3.5 per cent increase compared to 12,705 during the corresponding period 12 months earlier.

Staff also admitted 5997 patient admissions during the September 2008 quarter, which represents a 7.9 per cent increase compared to 5560 admissions during the same quarter in 2007 and a 4% increase (5767 patients) from the June quarter this year.

There were 331 babies born at the Hospital during the September 2008 quarter.

Statewide, the September 2008 Quarterly Public Hospital Performance Report shows that compared to the same time last year there has been:

·a 5.8 per cent increase in emergency department attendances;

·a 5.9 per cent increase in hospital admissions;

·a 6.2 per cent increase in specialist outpatient appointments;

·an 8.9 per cent increase in elective surgery procedures;

·and a 17.6 per cent reduction in patients waiting longer than clinically desirable for their elective surgery.

The Quarterly Public Hospitals Performance Report (September 08 quarter) is available in the What's New section of the Queensland Health website at http://www.health.qld.gov.au/.

Ends.

MEDIA: Kate Van Poelgeest 3234 1185 or Martin Philip 3235 2680

* The eight points are:

Implementing robust internal processes to improve bed availability.
Ensuring timely and appropriate discharge protocols are in place with executive directors of Medical Services and Nursing directly involved in managing this.
Enabling key staff to have input into developing strategies to reduce pressure on emergency departments.
Introducing into performance contracts for District CEOs personal accountabilities for managing organisational issues impacting access block.
Focussing on whole of hospital performance indicators for access block.
Developing and implementing predictive software to enhance bed management.
Working with the Divisions of General Practice to enhance access to GP and other community-based services.
Creating a senior position within Queensland Health to bring an organisation-wide focus to improving emergency department services and links with intensive care issues.

Definitions:

Outpatient services provided = the number of outpatient and other non-admitted services minus services such as emergency, pharmacy, pathology, diagnostic imaging, community health services, district nursing services and other outreach services.

People treated as inpatients or emergencies = the number of admitted patient episodes plus the number of emergency services not resulting in admission. For example, some people will attend the Emergency Department and then be admitted to hospital. These people will only be counted once as inpatients and not counted as emergency patients for this particular figure.

People admitted to hospital = the number of admitted patient episodes of care. For example, one person might be admitted to hospital on two separate occasions, they would then be counted as two episodes of care.

People treated in emergency departments = the number of accident and emergency services provided. For example, a patient attends emergency three times, then it is counted as three separate attendances to the emergency department.

People received elective surgery = the number of people admitted for elective surgery from the elective surgery waiting list in either Category 1, 2 or 3.

People waiting for elective surgery= the number of patients waiting for elective surgery from Category 1, 2 or 3 with a status of ‘waiting’ or ‘booked’.