Hospitals in the Clarence Valley continue to perform above state benchmarks despite high levels of patients presenting to emergency departments.
The latest Bureau of Health Information report for the January to March 2023 quarter reveals there were 54,913 attendances to emergency departments ED across the Northern NSW Local Health District NNSWLHD.
Grafton Base Hospital led the figures in the Clarence Valley with 6,961 patients presenting to the ED during the quarter while Maclean District Hospital saw 3,957 patients.
At Maclean, 83.8 per-cent of patients started their treatment on time, which is above the state average of 78.4 per-cent for hospitals of a similar size, while 89.7 per-cent left the ED within four hours compared with a state average of 79.3 per-cent and 93.1 per-cent of patients were transferred from ambulance within 30 minutes.
At Grafton, 68 per-cent of patients started treatment on time and 69.3 per-cent left the ED within four hours, which is better than the NSW average of comparable hospitals of 64 per-cent, while 89.7 per-cent of patients were transferred from ambulance within 30 minutes.
Acting chief executive of the NNSWLHD Lynne Weir said staff were providing excellent care to the community in the wake of local challenges.
“After a difficult year following the devastating floods in Northern NSW, our staff and our health system are continuing to put patients at the forefront of all we do,” she said.
Evidence of this excellent care was reflected in data which shows more than seven in 10 (74.6 per-cent) of patients started treatment on time, above the state average of 67.4 per-cent, while more than eight in 10 patients (81.1 per-cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff, which is better than the state average of 77.7 per-cent.
Importantly, the majority of patients (72.5 per-cent) left the ED within four hours, way above the state average of 58.2 per-cent.
Ms Weir attributed these figures to a new patient flow unit implemented by the NNSWLHD.
“Our new Patient Flow Unit continues to improve the transfer of patients throughout our hospitals, placing patients in the right place for the right care, at the right time,” she said.
During the quarter, 3,530 planned surgeries were performed across the region, with 94.9 per-cent performed on time.
“We are continuing to collaborate with private hospitals in the region to provide additional surgical care to our residents,” Ms Weir said.
“Our teams have worked incredibly hard to increase our surgery capacity, resulting in no Category 1 (Urgent) procedures being overdue at the end of the March 2023 quarter.”
“We have also seen significant reductions in the number of overdue Category 2 and 3 cases in 2023.”