More patients receive care in Queensland hospitals

The number of people who receive care in Queensland public hospitals continues to grow, the latest report card on the State’s public hospitals released today shows.

Health Minister Stephen Robertson said the increased activity demonstrated the impact of the additional $10 billion Health Action Plan funding which is expanding the capacity of our public hospitals throughout Queensland.

Mr Robertson said while he acknowledged there was still more work to do, the latest Quarterly Public Hospitals Performance Report indicated Queensland Health was making strong progress in meeting the demand for more services generated by our growing and aging population.

In the three months to December 31, 2008, compared to the same quarter in 2007, Queensland hospitals provided:

• A 3.2 per cent increase (or 11,744 more patients) in the number of people treated in emergency departments

• A 5.9 per cent increase (or 12,284 more patients) in the number of people admitted to hospital

• An 8.4 per cent increase (or 8,520 more patients) in the number of people admitted for same day care in a hospital

• A 3.6 per cent increase (or 3,764 more patients) in the number of people admitted for more than one day

• A 0.4 per cent increase (or 3,074 more appointments) in the number of outpatient services provided

• A 6.8 per cent increase (or 1,950 more patients) in the number of people receiving elective surgery, and

• A 4.8 per cent increase (or 482 more babies) in the number of babies born

“Attendances in our very busy emergency departments throughout Queensland again climbed, with the largest increases at Robina Hospital (35.8 per cent), the Prince Charles Hospital (31.6 per cent), QEll Hospital (7.7 per cent), Hervey Bay Hospital (6.6 per cent) and Gympie Hospital (6.4 per cent),” Mr Robertson said.

“Patients seen in emergency departments are triaged according to urgency.

“This report shows the performance of Queensland hospitals when compared with the national thresholds for the time people should be seen have improved.

“We are committed to working hard to continue to improve these times to meet these benchmarks.

“That is why we have opened new Emergency Departments at Robina and The Prince Charles Hospitals, we have completed expansions at Southport, Redcliffe, Gympie, Redland, Dalby and Caboolture, and major redevelopments and expansions are underway at the Princess Alexandra, Rockhampton, Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, Mount Isa and Bundaberg Emergency Departments.

“In addition, senior emergency department doctors continue to work with the Director General to implement an eight point, whole-of-hospital plan to reduce access block and the pressure of the peak winter season demand.

“Emergency department admissions – the first priority of a hospital system – have increased by more than double population growth, up five per cent during the first five months of 2008/09 (161,649), compared with the same period last year, and by 20 per cent over the past five years.”

Mr Robertson said elective surgery theatres were also busier across the State, with a 6.8 per cent (1,950) increase in the number of patients receiving elective surgery compared to the corresponding period a year earlier.

”Across the State, particularly large increases in the number of elective surgery procedures were carried out at Gladstone Hospital (75 per cent), Emerald Hospital (37 per cent), Mater Mothers’ Public Hospital (32.1 per cent), Gympie Hospital (27.6 per cent) and Mount Isa Hospital (20.7 per cent).”

Mr Robertson said there was always work to be done on waiting times for elective surgery, but highlighted several major improvements.

“Our key focus is always on the most urgent cases and the number of Category One patients waiting longer than recommended dropped by more than a third (34.3 per cent) between January 1, 2008 and January 1, 2009. This is a very positive result.

“The number of Category Two patients waiting longer than recommended increased by 4.7 per cent during the same period while Category Three long waits decreased by 37.3 per cent for the same period,” he said.

“The highest number of long waits were for orthopaedic surgery for procedures like hip and knee replacements, and demand for elective surgery in these fields will continue to increase as the population ages and grows. Relief in this area will be expected when the new Elective Surgery Centre at QEII hospital is completed before the middle of this year.

“We are also focusing extra efforts into this area including participating in the Commonwealth Government’s Waiting List Reduction plan, which aims to reduce the backlog of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended.”

Mr Robertson said Queensland signed the stage one agreement to treat 4,000 extra patients in 2008 than in 2007, through internal capacity expansion and private outsourcing initiatives.

“At the completion of this stage, the agreed target has been exceeded with 5,928 additional patients receiving treatment.

Mr Robertson said staffing continued to grow strongly. Since 2005 Queensland Health has employed:

• 1,715 more doctors, a 38 per cent increase to 6,267
• 5,778 more nurses, a 26 per cent to 27,689, and
• 2,134 more health practitioners, professional and technical staff, up 31 per cent to 9,068.

Mr Robertson said the quarterly performance report reflected the hard work and commitment of the dedicated Queensland Health staff across the state, and he commended their efforts in providing quality health care to people in their communities.

The Queensland Public Hospitals Performance Report December Quarter 2008 is available on Queensland Health’s website at www.health.qld.gov.au

Ends.

MEDIA: Kate Van Poelgeest 3234 1185 or 0458 449 267