THE proportion of people being treated within a desirable time frame at Bendigo Health’s emergency department has fallen, the latest performance data shows.
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From October 1 to December 31 last year, 60 per cent of patients in the emergency department were treated within the recommended time, falling from 62 per cent the previous quarter and 66 per cent in the same period in 2015.
Across Victoria 73 per cent of patients were treated within time, the state’s target being 80 per cent.
But all Bendigo Health patients in triage category one – those most critically ill - were treated immediately, as needed.
Fifty-nine per cent of triage category two patients – those suffering a critical illness or very severe pain – were treated within 10 minutes, down from 64 per cent in July to September and 76 per cent in the same quarter in 2015.
Across categories two, three and four, Bendigo Health fell considerably below the statewide targets of 80 per cent, 75 per cent and 81 per cent respectively.
There was also a decline in the proportion of patients treated within the desired time frame in triage categories three and four.
After category one, the greatest proportion of patients treated within the recommended time frame were in non-urgent category five, with 90 per cent of patients treated within two hours.
A Bendigo Health spokeswoman said the emergency department had seen not only an increase in presentations, but an increase in the urgency of their condition, with more patients in categories one to three than at the same time the previous year.
“This impacts resources in the department and has an impact on all category treatment times,” the spokeswoman said.
In response, she said, the hospital installed a rapid access doctor and nurse.
“This had an immediate impact and the December performance saw a marked improvement on prior months within the quarter,” the spokeswoman said.
Overall, the median wait time – or time it took for half of patients to be treated – rose from 26 minutes in July-September to 29 minutes.
Statewide, the median wait time was 20 minutes.
Bendigo’s emergency department experienced growth in the number of people attending, with 12,691 presentations - a 5 per cent increase on the previous quarter and a 0.5 per cent increase on the same quarter the previous year.
Just over 11,900 of those patients went on to receive treatment.
The October-December quarter was the last full quarter in the old hospital.
“It was widely recognised that we were constrained by our physical infrastructure where we had insufficient treatment cubicles and inpatient beds,” the spokeswoman said.
“The new hospital has increased capacity both in the emergency department and in inpatient areas and we expect this to have a positive impact in the future.”