By NATALIE GALLENTI-BREKALO
THE latest data from the Victorian Health Services Performance Report has shown significant improvement in ambulance transfer times at Williamstown Hospital, according to Health Minister David Davis.
Mr Davis said the data for the Williamstown Hospital showed the recommendations of the Ambulance Transfer Taskforce were being successfully implemented, with 100 per cent of transfers completed within 40 minutes.
This is up on its 97.9 per cent transfer rate in the December 2012 quarter and better than the state-wide benchmark of 90 per cent.
The report shows the Williamstown Hospital was part of the improvement in transfer times, and in a range of other key hospital performance measures.
The improvements include an increase in hospital admission to 2848 patients in the three months to the end of December – up from 2697 admissions in the same period in 2012; treatment of 100 per cent of category one emergency patients immediately on arrival at the hospital; completed the transfer of 100 per cent of patients who arrived in an ambulance in the December quarter within the target of 40 minutes and provided operations within the benchmark 30 days for 100 per cent of the hospital’s 188 category one urgent elective surgery patients in the December quarter.
Overall Victoria’s hospitals spent just 1.2 per cent of time on bypass, well down on the 2.8 per cent bypass rate in the previous quarter and well below the benchmark of three per cent.
“They are treating emergency patients more quickly, with a median time-to-treatment of 19 minutes, down from 21 minutes in the previous three months and 20 minutes a year earlier,” Mr Davis said.
He says more than half of Category 1, 2 and 3 patients are treated within 11 minutes, an improvement on the 12-minute median in the previous three months.
