Wait times up
Surgical performance rates at West Gippsland Hospital for the September quarter were well below normal because of theatre closures for almost all of July and August.
While all category one elective surgery patients were cleared within the 30-day benchmark, performance figures for category two and three were well below the hospital’s usual throughput.
The theatre closures also placed extra pressure on waiting lists, which are now unlikely to be cleared this financial year.
West Gippsland Healthcare Group chief executive officer Dan Weeks said the latest performance figures were largely impacted by the closure of theatres for all but one week in July and August.
Theatres were forced to close as a result of contamination concerns during building works at the hospital.
Hospital and ambulance performance data released last week indicated WGH provided operations for 100 per cent of its category one elective surgery patients within the benchmark 30 days, more than half of them within 13 days – a day quicker than the previous quarter.
Only 48 per cent of category two (semi-urgent) patients were treated within the recommended time, down from 94.5 per cent the same time last year.
Almost 90 per cent of category three (nonurgent) patients were treated within the recommended time, compared to 100 per cent last year.
Waiting lists have blown out for category two and three patients who are now expected to wait 94 days and 105 days respectively for treatment, up from 31 and 41 days last year.
Mr Weeks said while theatres were closed, the hospital met the needs of category one patients but category two and three patients had the option to wait or choose to go elsewhere.
While the theatres have re-opened, and a third theatre is due to open, Mr Weeks said they would continue to do their normal activity but did not have the financial capacity to do extra work and reduce waiting times.
He said the government indicated WGH would not be penalised in its operational funding because the theatre closures were “beyond our control.”
“But, we don’t have the capacity for funding to do extra work. Sometimes more funding is made available through the year.
“If that happens hopefully then we can make a dent in it, otherwise our waiting lists will remain very high,” he said.
Ambulance response times improved an average seven seconds for code one callouts. Code one ambulances arrived in an average 14 minutes 20 seconds – an improvement on the 14:27 arrival time a year earlier.
Almost 70 per cent of Baw Baw’s ambulances arrived within 15 minutes, an improvement of the 68 per cent recorded a year earlier.
Ambulances responded to 758 code one calls, up on the 593 call-outs for the September quarter in 2018.
Latest data released by the state government showed Victorians are waiting less time than ever before for elective surgery and urgent specialist appointments, despite surges in the number of people attending hospitals driven by an unprecedented flu season.
Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing said hospitals and ambulance services across the state had done a tremendous job keeping up their high levels of patient care, during the worst flu season on record.
“I want to thank each and every one of our incredible paramedics, doctors, nurses and other health workers for their care and dedication in treating patients quickly and efficiently despite the extra pressure.
“We back our health and ambulance services because even during busy times like this Victorians deserve the very best care, when they need it – close to home,” she said.
The latest state-wide performance data showed hospitals saw 474,175 patients in emergency departments – 23,300 more than last year..
Ambulance services also managed an increasing number of emergency cases for the quarter with 78,130 code one call-outs to September. This is up from 69,753 in the same quarter a year earlier.