Murrumbidgee Hospitals Perform Well In Latest Healthcare Quarterly Report

The latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly Report - April to June 2024 shows public hospitals in Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) continued to improve planned surgery wait times and deliver high quality, timely emergency care to the community.

MLHD Chief Executive Ms Jill Ludford thanked staff for their hard work throughout the period, with excellent results in several emergency department (ED) key performance indicators, and a significant reduction in the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for planned surgery.

There were 5991 emergency department attendances at Griffith Base Hospital (GBH) in the April to June 2024 quarter, a decrease of 1 attendance, compared with the same quarter in 2023.

The median time from arrival to leaving ED was 2 hours and 35 minutes.

During the April to June 2024 quarter, GBH completed 269 planned surgeries and delivered 126 babies.

The District’s hospitals continue to optimise available theatre time for planned surgery, with 1,960 planned surgeries performed in MLHD hospitals from April to June 2024.

More than eight in ten (84.3 percent) planned surgeries have been performed on time, an increase of 16.6 percentage points compared to the same quarter in 2023.

All urgent planned surgeries (100 percent) were performed on time.

Ms Ludford said the District continues to work hard to ensure patients receive their planned surgery as soon as possible.

“In 12 months, our teams have reduced the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for a planned surgery by more than 95 percent, from 592 patients at the end of June 2023 to 18 at the end of June 2024,” Ms Ludford said.

Wait times for semi-urgent and non-urgent surgeries have also reduced significantly.

From April to June 2024, 86.1 percent of semi-urgent surgeries were performed on time - an improvement of 16 percentage points compared with the same quarter last year (70.1 percent).

More than seven in ten non-urgent planned surgeries (75.5 percent) were performed on time - also an improvement of 24 percentage points compared with the same quarter last year (51.5 percent).

The time to surgery for each patient is individually determined based on a clinical assessment of their condition by their specialist, who then gives the patient an urgency category.

Patients who feel their condition 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.

MLHD’s emergency departments continued to provide care within timeframes well above the state average, despite high levels of activity.

During the second quarter of 2024, there were 40,866 attendances to MLHD emergency departments, an increase of 2.4 percent, or 967 more attendances, compared with the same quarter in 2023.

Triage one (resuscitation) patients presenting increased by 10.5 percent when compared to the same quarter in 2023.

Despite this high demand, the vast majority of patients (81.3 percent) started their treatment on time, which is the second-best result in the state.

More than seven in ten patients (72.7 percent) were able to leave the ED within four hours of arriving, also better than the state average (54.7 percent), and one of the best results in the state.

Almost nine in ten patients (82.8 percent) were transferred from paramedics to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time - also significantly better than the state average of 73.7 percent.

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

During busy times, people 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 show their support by saving emergency departments and ambulances for saving lives.

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

“These results are a testament to the hard work of our highly skilled workforce, and I commend our teams for the dedication they continue to show to the patients in our care,” Ms Ludford said.

• Topics:

• Health & Wellbeing