By Charlene Gatt
WESTERN Health CEO Kathryn Cook has praised the release of the My Hospitals data after the West’s three hospitals returned a healthy report card.
The organisation – which runs the Sunshine, Williamstown and Western hospitals – has achieved close to a 15 per cent reduction in its elective surgery waiting list and almost halved the number of patients exceeding clinically recommended treatment times.
The three emergency departments meet or exceed national benchmarks in 11 of 15 categories, with Footscray’s Western Hospital and Sunshine Hospital failing to meet 68 per cent of semi-urgent patients within an hour and 88 per cent of non-urgent patients within two hours.
The My Hospitals website rates how public hospitals perform compared to national average waiting times for elective surgery and emergency departmental care.
It also lists bed numbers and details what medical services are provided.
Over time, the contents of the website will be expanded to add further information.
“Transparency and accountability are an important part of our values as an organisation,” Ms Cook said.
“I am exceptionally proud of our highly skilled and committed staff in providing health services to the fastest growing population in Australia.
“We are committed to meeting the challenges that face Western Health and we look forward to working with the government to further reduce waiting times and improve the quality of care and access to services for people living in the West.”
Ms Cook said Western Health had set a target to ensure that no patients wait more than a year for surgery.
She said the inclusion of a sixth operating theatre at Sunshine Hospital and the opening of the new Sunbury Day Hospital would also improve surgery times.
