More people visiting Hunter New England Health emergency departments

March figures show emergency departments at Hunter New England Health’s major hospitals continue to perform well while also treating more patients compared to last year.

Hunter New England Health’s Director Operations Acute Networks, Michael Di Rienzo, said the results show a fairly consistent and positive performance across the region.

“Our major hospitals continue to provide excellent and timely care while also being challenged with increasing patient numbers,” Mr DiRienzo said.

He said the latest data shows that Hunter New England Health’s major emergency departments attended to more than 27,500 presentations in the month of March alone – which is up from just over 25,800 in March 2007.

John Hunter Hospital continues to have the busiest Emergency Department in the State, with staff caring for 5,329 people in March 2008 – a 4.3 per cent increase in presentations compared to the same period last year.

Nearly all of Hunter New England Health’s other major hospitals also saw overall increases in Emergency Department presentations between March 2007 and March 2008. 

For instance, Moree District Hospital provided care for 744 emergency presentations in March last year, compared to 974 in March 2008.  The emergency departments at Glen Innes and Cessnock each saw a 20 percent-plus gain in the number of ED presentations over the same period.

“While the overall number of emergency presentations was up for the March period, hospital staff continued to perform well against state-wide benchmarks which is a testament to their skill and dedication,” Mr DiRienzo said.

“All of our major facilities once again met the State’s benchmark for Triage 1 cases, which requires 100 per cent of emergency department patients with immediately life threatening injuries to be seen within 2 minutes,” he said.

“The majority of our major facilities continued to meet or exceed the benchmarks across the other four triage categories as well.

Mr DiRienzo said Armidale, Manning, Narrabri and Tamworth hospitals each fell under the benchmarks in two or more triage categories, and more work was needed to see that those facilities improved their performance in key areas.

“Our facilities have also performed well in emergency admission timeframes, with only two of our major facilities falling just one or two percentage points below the benchmark,” he said.

“While we have to work harder and smarter in a few areas, the overall result shows that Hunter New England Health’s hospitals are tracking well, and I congratulate staff for their efforts.”

“Our emergency departments will always be busy.  That’s why we continually focus on fine-tuning systems and processes so we can deliver safe, effective care within busy and demanding environments.”

Mr DiRienzo said the release of the March performance data is also a good time to remind the general public that emergency departments are aimed at treating emergency cases.

“All too often our emergency departments overflow with people who have relatively minor complaints that could be more appropriately treated by a local GP,” he said.

“This is why we have the triage system. When people arrive at an emergency department they are assessed or triaged by senior nursing staff as a way to prioritise patients according to the urgency of the care they need.

“People with the most urgent health needs will be treated first – even before people those who may have already been waiting as a result of a less serious condition.

“People with minor complaints are encouraged to make an appointment with a local GP.  However, if this is not possible, those who to present to an emergency department will be seen as soon as practical.

“We do ask people visiting our EDs to be patient, respect that medical staff are doing their best to see all patients in a timely manner, but also understand that ambulance and higher priority patients may need to be seen first.”

Media Inquiries: HNE Health Communications Unit (02) 4985-5522 (Ref: HNE-1374)

Contact: Communication Unit

Phone: (02) 4985 5522