Interim Chief Executive Dr Charles Pain
I would like to provide an update on the Mackay Base Hospital Emergency Department performance based on the latest data.
Once again 100% of people who arrive by ambulance with a life-threatening illness or injury were seen on time.
In the March quarter we saw 13,142 patients which is a six percent increase from the same quarter last year.
We are also seeing more acutely unwell people.
In the March quarter there was an 18% increase in the most serious Category 1 cases and a 23% increase in the next Category 2 presentations compared to the same quarter last year. These are people with immediate or imminent life-threatening conditions.
Despite this our emergency department is one of the best performing in Queensland, with 92% of patients seen in time.
The overall median waiting time for treatment was 11 minutes which is shorter than the waiting times at peer group public hospitals across Queensland.
For many a trip to the emergency department is the first time they have seen a doctor in a long time and they are often more unwell than they would have been if they had earlier intervention and diagnosis.
We believe one reason for this is that some people may be reluctant to see a general practitioner because they can’t find a bulk billing practice within our region.
More patients are also coming to emergency by ambulance. In the March quarter 4255 patients arrived by ambulance, an increase of 8% (312 more patients) from the same quarter last year.
Of these ambulance arrivals, 1% were Category 1 (the most urgent category), 39% were Category 2, 49% were Category 3, 11% were Category 4 and 0.4% were Category 5.
Despite this we continue to improve our service to patients who need to come to the Emergency Department.
For example, our new Transfer Initiative Nurse service has helped us deliver improved transfer times.
In the last quarter of the year 68% (409 patients) of ambulance arrivals were off the stretcher within 30 minutes, up from 63% in the same quarter last year.
I would like to thank our hard-working emergency department staff for their tireless service to their community. We are very proud of them and what they have achieved.
We will continue to work to improve the care we provide to our community.
Elective surgery
Mackay HHS is also working hard to provide elective surgery to meet the needs of our community.
In the March quarter 809 patients had elective surgery in the health service, a 62.8% increase from the same quarter last year.
Waiting lists enable us to schedule and manage care within the clinically recommended timeframes.
At the end of the March quarter 77.2% of patients were within the clinically-recommended waiting time. While it’s not 100% we do have a plan to improve waiting times for our community.
This won’t happen immediately, but we will gain momentum throughout the year.
We will use other facilities to increase the amount of surgery offered and we will also schedule extra theatre sessions at our hospitals.
We will also bring in locum doctors to tackle longer wait lists in specialties where this is needed.