Griffith Base Hospital Continues To Perform Well

Residents can rest and rejoice in the knowledge that Griffith Base Hospital (GBH) has continued to perform well over the July to September quarter according to the latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly Report from July to September 2023.

Faced with a two-per cent increase in Emergency Department (ED) visits, GBH saw 5,928 patients, 116 more than the same time in 2022.

More than eight in 10 patients (82.1 per cent) started treatment on time, significantly better than the average for NSW hospitals of a similar size.

Almost all patients (95.5 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time, which is also better than the average for hospitals of a similar size.

During the quarter, 278 planned surgeries were performed, with 100 per cent of urgent surgeries performed and 98.4 per cent of all planned surgeries completed on time.

There were 132 babies born at GBH during the quarter.

MLHD Chief Executive Jill Ludford thanked staff for their hard work throughout the period, with improvements in a number of planned surgery and emergency department (ED) key performance indicators, despite high demand for emergency care.

“Our District continues to work hard to ensure patients receive their planned surgery as soon as possible, after non-urgent procedures were temporarily postponed during the COVID pandemic,” Ms Ludford said.

“MLHD completed 2,512 planned surgeries in the July to September 2023 quarter, an increase of 29.5 per cent, or 572 procedures, compared with the same quarter last year. Almost all urgent planned surgeries (99.5 per cent) were performed on time.

“Overall, we reduced the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for surgery by more than half over the past year - from 670 at the end of September 2022 to 298 at the end of September 2023.

“I would like to thank our patients for their patience and encourage any patients who feel their condition has may have deteriorated while waiting for their surgery are encouraged to contact their treating doctor who can review their condition and place them in a higher urgency category if appropriate.”

Throughout the third quarter of 2023, there were 39,131 attendances to MLHD EDs, an increase of 6.5 per cent on the same quarter in 2022.

There was a rise in presentations across the highest four triage categories, including a 7.9 per cent increase in triage category 1 (resuscitation) and a 14.8 per cent increase in triage category 2 (emergency) patients compared with the same period in 2022.

Despite the high demand for emergency care, most patients (84.3 per cent) started their treatment on time, which is significantly better than the NSW average and the highest result for a district or network in the state.

Ms Ludford said nine in 10 patients were transferred from paramedics to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time – significantly better than the state average.

“MLHD’s ambulance transfer of care times are once again among the best in the state for this quarter and our emergency departments continued to provide care within timeframes well above the state average,” Ms Ludford said.

“These results are a testament to the hard work of our highly skilled workforce to improve performance.

“I commend our team for the dedication they continue to show to the patients in our care.”

All patients are seen and triaged on arrival at the ED and, as always, the most seriously unwell patients are treated first.

During busy times, those with less urgent conditions can experience longer wait times when there are large numbers of seriously unwell patients being prioritised for emergency care.

MLHD continues to remind the community to support us by saving emergency departments and ambulances for saving lives.

If an illness or injury is not serious or life-threatening, we encourage people to call Healthdirect Australia on 1800 022 222, for a 24-hour telephone health advice.

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