By NICOLE VALICEK
WILLIAMSTOWN Hospital met all of its targets for the quarter with the proportion of patients waiting in the emergency department well up on the statewide benchmark.
Latest Victorian Health Services Performance data shows the Williamstown Hospital improved its performance in a key number of areas for the quarter ending June this year.
The proportion of patients waiting less than four hours in the emergency department was 92 per cent, up on the statewide benchmark of 75 per cent, while 86 per cent of Category 1 to 5 emergency patients were seen within the clinically recommended triage times.
Health Minister David Davis said more Victorians than ever were presenting to emergency departments and more emergency patients being admitted to hospital.
Among its performance improvements Williamstown Hospital provided a total of 7088 bed-days to patients in the three months to the end of June- up from 6814 bed-days for the previous quarter.
They treated 96 per cent of Category 2 patients within 10 minutes of arrival at the ED in the three months to the end of June – up from 90 per cent in the June 2012 quarter.
And they admitted 11 emergency patients in the three months to the end of June – up from seven emergency admissions in the previous three months.
Western Health chief executive Associate Professor Alex Cockram said the number of patients on the Western Health elective surgery waiting list has increased due to a number of reasons.
These include the growth within the catchment area and an increase in the number of Category 1 patients who require surgery within 30 days and the complex surgical procedures they require.
“Of note, the hospital-initiated postponement rate for Western Health remained below the statewide benchmark of eight per cent at 6.3 per cent for the June 2013 quarter,” she said.
“To assist Western Health in managing the growing demand for elective surgery, additional elective surgery lists will be undertaken during 2014.”
