Hospital waiting time reduced nationally: Report

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJun 17 2010

Boost in admissions

According to the latest report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) hospital admissions have risen significantly up to 16 percent from 2004 to 2009. Admissions in 2008 and 2009 amounted to a whopping 8 million and the report author George Bodilsen felt that multiple factors are responsible for this growing pressure on the nation’s hospitals. “The increase in hospital activity is a reflection of the increasing population, the ageing population, and perhaps the increase in chronic diseases in the population as we age,” he said.

Reduction in waiting times

Despite the rise in admissions waiting times for elective surgeries fell across the same time frame. The waiting time that was 5% in 2004 dropped to 3% in 2009. Mr. Bodilsen said, “The AIHW has been reporting health-related statistics for over 20 years, so we're always pleased to report information that suggests improvement in hospital performance.”

Bad statistics

The report also found that ACT has one of the longest surgery waiting times in the whole country. The median time for waiting for a surgery in ACT is 30 days more than the national average. The median waiting time in ACT is 75 days and lowest median time is recorded in Queensland at 27 days. Bodilsen explained, “The proportion of people who waited more than 365 days was nationally 2.9 per cent…The ACT had 10.6 per cent.” Tasmania had worse figures with 13% patients facing a wait of at least a year for an elective procedure. The ACT also had lowest recorded rate of hospitalizations which could have potentially been prevented if timely and adequate non-hospital care had been provided. Nationally the number of patients with potentially preventable hospitalizations stands at 30.6 per 1000 people whereas in ACT it stands at 23.

Minister speak

A spokesman for acting Health Minister Simon Corbell said in a statement, “Median waiting times are calculated based on those people removed from the list; therefore, targeting long waits will result in higher median times.” The ACT government has also provided additional financial aid for 800 more elective surgery operations for 2010-11 and a further 1300 over the following three years. Mr. Corbell’s spokesman also said that a wide range of innovative measures have been brought into action to reduce the pressure on the emergency departments. This included opening a six-bed mental health assessment unit and Australia's first nurse-led walk-in centre to treat minor illnesses and injuries he said.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon also pointed out that the national figures of waiting patients dropped from 4.8% in 2004-2005 to 2.9% in 2009 and this she said was the effect of the extra funds provided by the Government. Ms Roxon went on to say, “The biggest improvement is in the amount of elective surgery performed, with 38,239 more surgical admissions in 2008-09 than in the last full year of the former government in 2006-07…This surge in surgery, and focus on treating those who have waited the longest, will have directly benefited thousands of families and elderly Australians right around the country.”