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Clarence Valley hospitals experience high activity in recent months

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The Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) continued to improve planned surgery performance during the July to September 2024 quarter, despite hospitals with the locality experiencing some of the highest activity levels on record.

From July to September 2024, 3572 planned procedures were completed across the NNSWLHD, with the vast majority (85.4 per cent) performed on time, an improvement of 8.2 percentage points compared with the same period in 2023 (77.2 per cent).

At the end of the quarter, there were 232 patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for their planned surgery, a reduction of 67 per cent, or 477 patients fewer, compared with the end of September 2023.

Median waiting times decreased for both the semi-urgent and non-urgent categories and remained stable for the urgent category.

Any patient who feels their condition may have deteriorated while waiting for their surgery is encouraged to contact their treating doctor who can review their condition and place them in a higher urgency category, if appropriate.

NNSWLHD Director Clinical Operations Lynne Weir said hospitals continued to see increasing numbers of patients presenting to emergency departments and arriving by ambulance, trends which are being reflected across NSW.

“We had 56041 emergency attendances in the quarter, an increase of 3.4 per cent, or 1840 additional attendances when compared with the same quarter last year, and the highest July to September quarter ever recorded,” she said.

“We also saw 9775 arrivals by ambulance, an increase of 585 arrivals, or 6.4 per cent, compared with the same quarter in 2023, and the highest ever on record.

“It’s incredibly busy in our EDs, and I’d like to thank all our staff for their continued efforts in caring for our communities at their most vulnerable.”

From July to September 2024, almost seven in 10 patients (69.5 per cent) started their treatment on time, which is better than the NSW average (61.3 per cent).

More than eight in 10 patients (80.7 per cent) were transferred from ambulance paramedics to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time, which is better than the NSW average (77.5 per cent).

The majority of patients (71 per cent) left the ED within four hours of arriving, which is also significantly better than the NSW average (54.7 per cent).

“As a district, we are focussed on supporting patients to access timely care in a range of settings, depending on what’s most appropriate for their condition,” Ms Weir said.

“In many cases, that may be through our emergency departments, but we are also implementing alternative avenues such as combining our Hospital in the Home and community nursing services across the District to improve the capacity in the community for out-of-hospital services.”

For non-life-threatening illness or injury such as a cough, nausea, sprain, or minor cut, residents can phone HealthDirect on 1800 022 222 for free, expert health advice 24 hours a day.

A registered nurse will answer your call, ask some questions and connect you to the right care, which could include connecting with a health expert by phone or video call, booking an appointment at an urgent care clinic or other local healthcare service, and also calling an ambulance or directing to the emergency department if the situation is life-threatening.

Individual hospital results: Grafton Base Hospital (GBH) had 7023 ED attendances during this quarter, a 4.4 per cent increase (293 attendances) on the same quarter in 2023.

More than five in 10 patients started treatment on time (56.3 per cent), and seven in 10 patients (69.6 per cent) left the ED within four hours of arriving, which is better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW (59.0 per cent).

More than eight in 10 patients (87.7 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark an increase of 4.7 percentage points compared to the same quarter in 2023.

Maclean District Hospital (MDH) had 4073 ED attendances during the quarter, up 7.5 per cent (283 attendances) compared with the same quarter in 2023.

More than seven in 10 patients (75.5 per cent) started their treatment on time.

More than eight in 10 patients (86.2 per cent) left the ED within four hours, and almost all patients (93.9 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.  

Clarence Valley Independent 15 January 2025

This article appeared in the  Clarence Valley Independent, 15 January 2025.


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