Emergency departments throughout the state are "busier than ever", according to the latest quarterly report from the Bureau of Health Information (BHI) and Lithgow Hospital is no exception.
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In the October to December 2023 quarter, Lithgow Hospital's emergency room attendances increased by 0.4 per cent, which equates to 15 more attendances than in the same quarter for 2022.
Emergency Department (ED) presentations dropped by 0.7 per cent, with 23 less presentations occuring than in October to December 2022.
0.6 per cent of patients started their treatment earlier than the same quarter of the previous year, with a total of 76 per cent of patients starting their treatment on time for the October to December 2022 quarter.
Patients spent longer in the emergency department this quarter, with a two per cent increase in time from arrival than leaving.
There was a slight drop in patients who left the emergency department within four hours of presentation compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
It was a busy quarter for paramedics, with a 2.7 per cent increase in arrivals by ambulance. An extra 17 arrivals brought the total for the quarter to 706, compared to 689 in October to December 2022.
More patients were transferred from paramedics to ED care within 30 minutes this quarter with a 2.1 per cent increase from the same quarter in 2022 bringing the total to 96.5 per cent.
BHI Chief Executive, Dr Diane Watson said NSW Hospitals ED's are seeing record numbers of paitents needing urgent care.
"Hospitals are treating more patients with the most urgent clinical conditions, with a record number of triage 1 and 2 presentations to NSW EDs in October to December 2023," Dr Watson said.
Dr Watson said the majority of patients remained positive about their emergency care, despite the EDs being busy.
More elective surgeries were performed in October to December 2023 than in 2022, with 29.8 per cent increase.
Every elective surgery during the October to December 2023 quarter was performed on time, with was a 3.2 per cent increase on the same quarter of the previous year.
There was a slight increase in waiting time for semi-urgent and non-urgent elective surgeries this quarter compared to 2022, which saw a 14 and nine day increased wait time, respectively.
There were no changes in the wait time for urgent surgeries compared to the same quarter in 2022.
Less patients were on the waiting list at the end of this quarter compared to the same time in 2022, with a 2.6 per cent drop from 253 to 237.
There weren't any patients waiting longer than recommended for elective surgeries in either the 2022 or 2023 October to December quarter.
Reidun Berntsen
Reidun is a Journalist and writer who lives in a country town 3 hours from Sydney, Australia. From a young age, Reidun has been in love with words and the infinite possibilities they bring. Stories, features and poems have been a major part of her writing career.
Reidun is a Journalist and writer who lives in a country town 3 hours from Sydney, Australia. From a young age, Reidun has been in love with words and the infinite possibilities they bring. Stories, features and poems have been a major part of her writing career.
