More patients receive care at Bundaberg Hospital

More patients were cared for at Bundaberg Hospital in the December quarter than for the same period in 2007, the latest Queensland Health report card 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 the December 2008 Quarterly Public Hospitals Performance Report shows the number of people who received care at Bundaberg Hospital was 13,568 compared to 13,256 in the same quarter in 2007, a rise of 2.4 per cent.

“Emergency department doctors and nurses at Bundaberg Hospital treated 9,258 patients in the December quarter,” he said.

“This represents an increase of 197 people compared with the same quarter the previous year and an average of 100 people seen in a day.

“There was a marked increase in activity in the births sector, with 290 babies delivered during the quarter, compared with 238 babies for the 2007 quarter.

“Over this period, the Bundaberg Hospital provided 12,955 outpatient occasions of service compared with 12,266 for the same period in 2007. This is an increase of 5.6 per cent.”

Mr Robertson said the hospital’s operating theatres were also busy, with surgeons performing 542 elective surgery procedures.

“This is down 27 due to reduced operating services in the Christmas/New Year period,” he said.

“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 37 days.

“With category 2, half were treated within 59 days and 90 per cent were treated within 89 days. And in category 3, half were treated within 153 days and 90 per cent were treated within 370 days.”

Mr Robertson said there were 127 fewer patients on the elective surgery waiting list in all categories in the December 2008 quarter than in the same quarter last year.

Mr Robertson said this was due largely to the outsourcing patients to the successful Surgery Connect program, which provides operations in the private sector at no cost to the public patient.

“We’re ramping up health services in Bundaberg with a $41.1 million hospital redevelopment,” he said.

“This will deliver enhanced local health services and put us on track to meeting future growth in the region.

“This is in addition to providing an extra 33 doctors, 114 extra nurses and 127 extra allied health professionals in Bundaberg since 2005.”

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.

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

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.

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 at some time in the future acceptable 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.

Long-wait

Term applied to any waiting time that exceeds the recommendation for that category.

ENDS

MEDIA: Kate Van Poelgeest 3234 1185 or 0458 449 267