The Emergency Department (ED) was in high demand on the Mid North Coast last quarter, according to Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly results.
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Kempsey District Hospital (KDH) had 6,669 Emergency Department attendances, Port Macquarie Base Hospital (PMBH) had 12,331 and Macksville District Hospital (MDH) had 3,300, with an increase in complex presentations.
Despite the figures, all three public hospitals saw the majority of patients treated on time and reported impressive figures for patients transferred from ambulance to ED within 30 minutes and outperformed the state average.
The report shows the majority of patients started their ED treatment on time (72.5 per cent), which is better than the state-wide average (67 per cent).
More than eight in 10 patients (86.4 per cent) were transferred from ambulances to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark, which is better than the NSW average (77 per cent).
The District performed 2,904 planned surgery procedures with almost all (99.6 per cent) categorised urgent performed on time.
Kempsey District Hospital
KDH had 6,669 Emergency Department (ED) attendances during the quarter.
Almost eight in 10 patients started their treatment on time, with 93.3 per cent of patients transferred from ambulance to ED staff within 30 minutes.
The hospital performed 384 planned surgeries, with 94.5 per cent of all planned surgeries and 96.3 per cent of urgent planned surgeries performed on time.
Port Macquarie Base Hospital
PMBH had 12,331 ED attendances in the July to September 2023 quarter, with increases in presentations across the three highest triage categories compared with the same period last year.
The majority of patients started their treatment on time, which is better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
More than 82 per cent of patients were transferred from ambulance to ED within 30 minutes.
The hospital performed 931 planned surgeries throughout the quarter, a 10.6 per cent increase on the same time last year.
Almost all (99.6 per cent) of urgent planned procedures were performed on time.
Macksville District Hospital
Macksville District Hospital had 3,300 ED attendances during the July to September 2023 quarter.
More than nine in 10 patients (91.3 per cent) started treatment on time, which is significantly better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW.
The majority of patients (96.2 per cent) were transferred from the care of paramedics to ED staff within 30 minutes, an improvement of 1.5 percentage points.
Throughout the quarter, the hospital performed 256 planned surgeries, with 93.8 per cent of all planned surgeries performed on time.
Staff working hard
Mid North Coast Local Health District (MNCLHD) Chief Executive, Stewart Dowrick thanked staff for their ongoing efforts to deliver quality care to patients despite increased demand in EDs
"We continue to see high ED attendances and the number of planned surgeries performed has returned to pre-pandemic levels," Mr Dowrick said.
"The BHI report shows that Mid North Coast LHD has improved in several key performance measures and these results are a testament to the commitment and dedication of our staff."
Between mid-2013 and mid-2023, MNCLHD increased its workforce by an additional 1,145 full-time equivalent staff; an increase of 39 per cent including 158 more doctors, 540 more nurses and midwives and 89 more allied health staff.
