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Hospitals doing well today, but no room to move
AMA Victoria president Dr Doug Travis congratulated the State Government on having the most efficient public hospitals in Australia, but warned without funding for more beds and staff, elective surgery waiting lists would continue to blow out.The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Australian Hospital Statistics 2005/06, released today, highlight that emergency departments in Victoria are seeing patients in a timely manner.
However, hospital beds for people requiring continuing care are scarce, with Victoria’s bed ratio to population the second lowest in Australia.
“Elective surgery cancellations will escalate as demand on emergency departments continues to grow, requiring more beds,” Dr Travis said.
“The State Government has invested significantly in the Victorian health system infrastructure, but what we need now is funding to staff and operate existing beds which are not being utilised because hospitals have insufficient funding.
“We know that on a per capita basis compared to 1999/00 we are at least 260 beds short in Melbourne and 650 beds short in regional Victoria.
“It has been recognised Victorian hospitals are extremely efficient, which means the only way to deal with increasing patient demand is to increase bed and staff numbers.
“Many hospitals have existing beds which need to be opened and staffed to meet increasing demand in both emergency departments and elective surgery,” Dr Travis said.
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