More patients receive care at QEII hospital

More patients were cared for at the QEII Jubilee Hospital in the December 2008 quarter than 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.

The Quarterly Public Hospitals Performance Report shows the number of people treated as an inpatient or emergency in December 2008 was up 12.6% on the same period in 2007, with 11,703 patients.

“Emergency Department doctors and nurses at QEII Hospital treated 8874 patients in the December quarter, a marked increase of 633 people compared with the same quarter in 2007,” Mr Robertson said.

“The figure represents an average of 96 people attending the Emergency Department each day.

“Throughout the December quarter, QEII admitted 4457 patients, compared with 4260 in the same period in 2007 - an increase of 4.6 per cent.”

Mr Robertson said the hospital’s operating theatres were kept busy, but due to a reduction in operating space and times as a result of the Elective Surgery Enhancement Project, elective surgery figures were down.

“Surgeons performed 889 procedures, down 26.8% from the same period in 2007,” he said.

“With a 50 per cent reduction in theatre capacity because of the construction, there has been only a 26% reduction in theatre activity, which is a commendable effort from the surgical teams.

“I congratulate the staff for continuing to provide optimal care for our patients despite the construction going on around them, and we thank our patients for being so tolerant and understanding too.

“I’m confident there will be future improvements in elective surgery figures when the Elective Surgery Enhancement Project is completed.

Mr Robertson said 50 per cent of category one elective surgery patients received their treatment within 20 days and 90% were treated within 38 days.

“Half of Category 2 patients were treated within 43 days, and 90 per cent within 114 days, while 90 per cent of Category 3 patients were treated within 223 days,” he said.

“Addressing these numbers will continue to be our priority, and we’ll be in a strong position to do so when the new Elective Surgery Enhancement Project is completed in the coming months.”

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