More patients receive care at Townsville Hospital

More patients were cared for at the Townsville Hospital in the December quarter than the same time in the previous year, 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 attending the hospital is 1.5 per cent more than the same quarter in 2007.

“Across the hospital, the most marked increases in activity occurred in maternity with 557 babies born in the hospital compared to 529 in the same period the previous year,” he said.

“The Townsville Hospital’s Birth Centre opened on 23 December and already 21 babies have been born there since the opening.

“During this period, 1,333 patients at Townsville Hospital underwent elective surgery operations.”

Mr Robertson said emergency department (ED) doctors and nurses at The Townsville Hospital treated 14,973 patients in the December quarter 2008.

“This is an increase of 98 people compared with the same quarter in 2007,” he said.

“The Townsville Hospital’s busy ED treated an average of 162 people a day.

“In the December 2008 quarter, Townsville Hospital admitted 12,071 people compared with 11,816 for the same period the previous year - an increase of 255 admissions, or 2.2 per cent.

“The latest elective surgery figures show that no category one patients waited longer than 30 days for their surgery, while 95.7 per cent waited no longer than 90 days for their surgery,” he said.

“These are very pleasing figures given that half our theatres were not operating for some weeks as contractors repaired the floors in the hospital’s sterilising unit.

“I’m confident there will be further improvements to these figures, with elective surgery having returned to full capacity at Townsville Hospital on 6 January.

Mr Robertson said the $94 million redevelopment of Townsville Hospital now underway would deliver an extra 100 beds by peak season 2011.

“Just this week another six emergency department bays came online and an extra 30 beds will be opened by the end of August this year.

“The Townsville Hospital redevelopment is on track and on budget to deliver local residents improved and expanded services, now and in the future.”

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