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Victorian hospitals show slight improvement - more needed
14 October 2009.
The latest Your Hospitals report provides little comfort to thousands of Victorians waiting for care, AMA Victoria President Dr Harry Hemley said today.
“The 400 extra beds that the Victorian Government introduced last financial year have made a fair difference,” Dr Hemley said, “But these figures clearly show we need more beds to serve Victoria’s growing population>”
More than 107,000 patients missed out on emergency department care within clinically appropriate timeframes (categories one to three only) in 2008-09 — a decrease from 118 000 last year.
Over 262 000 patients failed to get a bed within eight hours or be discharged within four hours from emergency departments in 2008-09 — an increase of 17 000 from last year.
Approximately 22 800 patients waiting for elective surgery waited too long in 2008-09 — an increase of around 100 people from last year. That was only after they got on the waiting list. The Victorian Government again refused to publish outpatient waiting times.
“All public hospital patients should be seen within the clinically appropriate times,” Dr Hemley said. “Failure to treat patients within a clinically appropriate time increases the chances of bad outcomes.”
“These figures show that with more beds, more capacity and innovative solutions we can improve. However, our hospitals need more help; we have a growing population and people are going to get sick. We must do better.
“Last year we had an increase in beds, doctors and nurses,” Dr Hemley said, “but we are still struggling to keep up with demand.”
“In part, this is because the Minister refuses to look at where the demand actually lies – outpatient waiting times. The Minister has ignored recommendations from the Auditor General, the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission and the AMA to publish these data,” Dr Hemley said.
“Without the Minister wanting to see the full picture, how can he deliver a good solution?”
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2007-08 |
2007-08 |
2007-08 |
2007-08 |
2007-08 |
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2008-09 |
2008-09 |
2008-09 |
2008-09 |
2008-09 |
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Actual |
Number |
Met |
treated (est) |
Missed (est) |
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Actual |
Number |
Met |
treated (est) |
Missed (est) |
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Emergency |
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Ambulance bypass |
2.9 |
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yes |
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2.6 |
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yes |
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Cat 1 immediate |
100 |
8023 |
yes |
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0 |
|
100 |
8529 |
yes |
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Cat 2 10 mins |
78 |
94480 |
no |
74000 |
20000 |
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82 |
100003 |
yes |
82000 |
18000 |
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Cat 3 30 mins |
68 |
310390 |
no |
212000 |
98000 |
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72 |
315421 |
no |
226000 |
89000 |
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Cat 4 one hr |
62 |
412702 |
n/a |
256000 |
157000 |
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65 |
415284 |
n/a |
271000 |
144000 |
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Cat 5 2 hrs |
88 |
87284 |
n/a |
76000 |
11000 |
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88 |
82218 |
n/a |
72000 |
10000 |
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Bed w/i 12 hrs |
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Bed w/i 8 hrs |
67 |
255422 |
no |
170045 |
85377 |
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67 |
258927 |
no |
173216 |
85711 |
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Non-admit w/i 4 hrs |
75 |
643000 |
no |
482983 |
160000 |
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74 |
651000 |
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483382 |
177000 |
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Elective |
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Cat 1 30 days |
100 |
34227 |
yes |
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0 |
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100 |
41705 |
yes |
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Cat 2 90 days |
70 |
61696 |
no |
43187 |
18509 |
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73 |
69740 |
no |
50910 |
18830 |
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Cat 3 365 days |
91 |
37446 |
yes |
34076 |
3370 |
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92 |
39319 |
yes |
36173 |
3147 |
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Black - actual figures reported |
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Blue - round figures from graphs |
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Green - extrapolated from percentages reported |
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