Story: Jo Harrison
A report card released by the Bureau of Health Information Hospitals Quarterly report for July-September, 2012 show that Armidale Hospital is achieving state averages or better, exceeding NSW benchmarks.
In the Emergency Department there has been a three per cent increase in attendance. Life threatening conditions have been treated within seven minutes, one minute above state average. Potentially life threatening conditions within 21 minutes, three minutes above the state average, while times for potentially serious conditions and less urgent conditions were longer by up to four minutes on last year, but still achieving the NSW benchmark.
TRIAGE 5 (least urgent category) — Armidale out-performed state benchmark by 15 per cent. National Emergency Access Target (requiring 69 per cent of patients across all triage categories to be treated, discharged, admitted or referred within four hours) – Armidale is one of the best performers in peer group at 19 per cent above the State average.
Off stretcher times — (target of transferring 90 per cent of patients from ambulances to emergency within 30 minutes) Armidale achieved 92 per cent, well above the state average of 57 per cent.
Ninety-six per cent of urgent surgery, 99 per cent of semi-urgent and 96 per cent of non-urgent surgery performed within benchmark time. A total of 265 patients received surgery, with 500 patients ready for surgery at the end of the quarter, 82 per cent in the non-urgent category.
Staffing levels at Armidale Hospital are also improving, with several new appointments and offers on the table.
A new career medical officer for the Emergency Department will start next week, another general surgeon has accepted an offer to start work in February and a new physician has been recruited.
This follows last month’s announcement that a surgeon and an anesthetist have been recruited to the hospital.
An offer has been made to fill the position of Director of Medical Services and Hunter New England Health (HNEH) is continuing negotiations with three orthopaedic surgeons, who will all have visited the hospital by the end of the week.
Todd McEwan, Director Operations, Acute Networks with HNEH, said the hospital will soon have a full complement of surgeons.
“In the interim, we are using locum surgeons to ensure surgeries can continue,” he said.
“This includes a regular locum outpatient consulting service so that GPs can refer patients to be put on a waiting list for elective surgery.”
He said, wherever possible, locums were engaged only when local doctors were not available.
“We are committed to sup-porting our local doctors so they can continue working in Armidale long term,” he said.
Member for Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay welcomed the new appointments.
“At the most recent New England Health Alliance meeting, HNEH was urged to fill the vacant positions without delay and doctors were very insistent that a Director of Medical Services be appointed,” he said.
“The position is now looking much brighter and a more positive attitude all round would certainly make a difference to successfully recruiting new medical staff.
“The Hospital has performed well, either above or within State benchmark figures in most categories in the July-September quarter.
“That means the staff have been working extremely hard to achieve such excellent results
and it is to be hoped that all the new appointments will be finalised soon to relieve them and reduce the heavy cost of hiring locums.”
