Bendigo Health has been named Victoria’s second best major regional hospital and fifth best hospital overall for length of stay by the state’s Acting Auditor-General, Peter Frost, in a report released this week.
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Dr Frost found patients at Bendigo Health were recovering faster from surgery, particularly hip and knee surgery.
What happens is the patient’s taking ownership of, and assisting us with, their care.
- David Rosaia
“If all 21 hospitals were as efficient as the better performing hospitals in Victoria – Western, Shepparton, Bendigo, Wangaratta and Casey – then almost 145,000 bed days could be released every year to treat other patients,” Dr Frost wrote.
“This equates to an entire 396 bed hospital operating at 100 per cent occupancy, or a 435 bed hospital at 90 per cent occupancy.”
Dr Frost’s report indicates almost $125 million per year could be made available for other patients and services if inefficiencies in the rest of the state’s hospitals were addressed.
Bendigo Health director of nursing for inpatients and emergency services, David Rosaia, said a major factor in the hospital’s good showing was the level of involvement patients had in their own care.
“One of the main reasons we’ve had such success is we’ve introduced a visual care pathway that incorporates the patient in their care,” he said.
“They’re given the pathway so the patient actually knows how long they’re going to be in hospital for following surgery, and we can articulate each day what’s going to happen with their wound, what’s going to happen with their mobility.
“What happens is the patient’s taking ownership of, and assisting us with, their care.”
Mr Rosaia said setting established goals with patients helped them get moving faster after orthopaedic surgery, with recovery times much shorter than in years past.
“There used to be a time when if you had a hip replacement or knee replacement you often wouldn’t get out of bed for a week, but now you’re pretty much encouraged to get out of bed the next day,” he said.