Mackay Base Hospital has experienced its busiest month ever with a record 4251 presentations for August.
This compares to 3953 for August last year and the monthly average of 3804 presentations in the 2016-17 year.
Director of Emergency Dr Pieter Nel said his team had work tirelessly to deal with the large number of very sick patients.
Influenza and other respiratory illnesses and traumas from car and motorbike accidents are among the reason for the increase.
“August was the busiest month on record for the Mackay Base Hospital Emergency Department,” Dr Nel said.
“And it’s not just about the numbers, it’s about the acuity of the patients – that is how sick they are,” he said.
There were:
58 Category 1 patients with an immediate life-threatening condition
615 Category 2 patients with an imminently life-threatening condition
2304 Category 3 potentially life-threatening patients
1171 Category 4 potentially serious patients
103 Category 5 less urgent patients
Dr Nel congratulated the Emergency Department team for working to provide around the clock care for the Mackay community.
“It is also pleasing that in August 71.7% of those patients were either admitted to hospital or able to go home within four hours,” he said.
“You can see from these numbers that Category 1-3 patients made up a significant number of the presentations and these are all people with potentially serious conditions,” he said.
The health service is also treating an increasingly large number of elderly patients with chronic health conditions.
If you are unsure whether your health condition is an emergency call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) and qualified staff are available 24 hours a day to advise if you need to go to a GP, pharmacy or hospital.
