Southern NSW Local Health District's (SNSWLHD) is among the state's top performers for emergency department and planned surgery performance, despite record attendances to local emergency departments (ED), including an unprecedented number of critically unwell patients.
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At Goulburn Base Hospital there were 6,126 ED attendances during the January to March quarter, and almost nine in 10 patients were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time.
There were 386 planned surgeries performed during the quarter, and all were performed on time.
During the same period at Queanbeyan Hospital 6,778 people attended the ED, and more than eight in 10 patients started treatment on time, which is better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
More than eight in 10 patients left the ED within four hours of arriving - also better than the average - and nearly all patients (98.9 percent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.
The hospital performed 165 planned surgery procedures with almost all planned surgery (97.6 percent) performed on time.
SNSWLHD Chief Executive Margaret Bennett praised the efforts of staff in providing high quality care to patients during the busy January to March period.
"This latest Bureau of Health Information Healthcare Quarterly for January to March 2024 shows our district was among the state's top performers for key ED indicators including the time to start treatment, the percentage of patients leaving the EDs within four hours, and the time to transfer of care from ambulance to hospital staff," Ms Bennett said.
"I want to extend my sincere gratitude to our dedicated staff members - these impressive results are a testament to their hard work."
From January to March 2024, there were 31,292 attendances to EDs across SNSWLHD, which is a 4.9 percent increase compared with the same period last year and the highest number of attendances since BHI began reporting.
Of the more than 30,000 presentations, a record 4,032 were by patients with an imminently life-threatening condition (triage category two). This is an increase of 33.3 percent, or 1,008 patients, compared with the same quarter in 2023.
Despite this high demand, almost eight in 10 patients (78.8 percent) started their treatment on time, which is better than the NSW average (66.1 percent). The majority of patients (73.0 percent) also left the ED within four hours of arriving, also better than the NSW average (55.9 percent).
Almost all patients (94.5 percent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time, which is significantly better than the NSW average (78.3 percent).
"Our staff have implemented a range of improvement strategies over the past 12-18 months to achieve these impressive results," Ms Bennett said.
"Strategies include daily huddles across all facilities, ongoing ED education programs to strengthen nursing triage protocols, regular reviews of clerical processes and systems, as well as management of discharges and delays.
"The most important outcome of this work is that patients in Southern NSW are given the very best care, as quickly as possible."
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 will experience longer wait times when there are large numbers of seriously unwell patients being prioritised for emergency care.
SNSWLHD continues to remind everyone 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 24-hour telephone health advice.
The district also performed 1,195 planned surgeries during the first quarter of 2024. Southern NSW LHD also had one of the best results in the state for the percentage of planned surgeries performed on time, with 99 per cent of patients receiving their planned surgery on time, a 6.5 percentage point improvement compared with the same quarter in 2023 (92.5 percent).
"Almost all planned surgery in Southern was performed on time during the reporting period, a remarkable effort by staff and a great outcome for our patients," Ms Bennett said.
