MORE PATIENTS RECEIVE CARE IN MACKAY BASE HOSPITAL

More patients were cared for at the Mackay Health Service District in the December quarter than the previous corresponding period, 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.

The December 2008 Quarterly Public Hospitals Performance Report released today shows the number of people treated as inpatients or emergencies was 1.2 per cent more than the same quarter the previous year.

“Emergency Department (ED) doctors and nurses at Mackay Base Hospital treated 14,081 patients as inpatients in the December quarter,” Mr Robertson said.

“This compared to 14,529 people in the September quarter 2008 and 13,910 people in the December quarter 2007.

“At the same time, elective surgical waiting lists for category 3 patients improved. Four category 3 patients or 1.9 per cent waited longer than the clinically recommended time for their surgery compared to 36 patients or 18.2 per cent at January 1 2008.

“Across the district, the most marked increases in activity occurred in admissions with 6,591 patients admitted into care during the December 2008 quarter compared to 6,201 patients for the December 2007 quarter.

“This is an increase of 6.3 per cent from the corresponding period in 2007.”

Mr Robertson said Mackay Base Hospital’s busy ED dealt with 9,018 emergency department attendances compared to 9,406 attendances during the same quarter last year.

“The hospitals’ operating theatres were busy in the December quarter, with surgeons performing 526 elective surgery procedures,” he said.

“I’d like to congratulate the hospital’s hard-working surgical staff for doing a great job under pressure."

Mr Robertson said the latest performance report shows Mackay Base Hospital was performing well but said further improvements could be made.

“We’re not resting on our laurels and will continue to seek further improvement to local health services,” he said.

“That’s why we’re pressing ahead with a $405 million redevelopment of Mackay Base Hospital.

“This hospital project will deliver up to 318 overnight beds ait will mean a major boost to health services for Mackay residents.”

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 September 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