Latest figures build on case for Warrnambool Base Hospital upgrades

More than half of Emergency Department patients, 63 per cent, left within the state government's four-hour benchmark, according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) figures, released on Wednesday.

That's down nearly six per cent on the same period in 2018, but higher than the current state average of 51 per cent.

Nine out of 10 'emergency' or T2 patients started treatment within the clinically recommended 10 minutes, which included those with severe chest pains, severe fractures or difficulty breathing.

A third of the 10,958 'urgent' or T3 patients - such as those bleeding heavily from cuts or with major fractures - did not begin treatment within the recommended 30 minutes.

That's five per cent worse on the previous year's 79 per cent, but better than the state average of 66 per cent.

It took patients an average of 5.9 hours to be treated and discharged from Warrnambool Hospital and an average of 10 hours to be treated and admitted to the hospital.

The number of T1 or resuscitation cases nearly doubled in the last year, and T2 emergency patient numbers spiked 10 per cent, adding further weight to the hospital stage two upgrade case.

100 per cent of the 907 urgent category one elective surgery patients received their surgery within the recommended 30-day wait period along with the 1344 patients who waited a year for their category three surgeries.

The data said 86 per cent of category two patients received their surgery within 90 days.

Rising demand was felt across other south-west district hospitals.

Overall hospital admissions fell marginally, 0.5 per cent, at Portland District Health to 4890, but grew at Moyne Health Services, three per cent, to 429 admitted patients.

Medical emergency patients made up 22 per cent of Portland's patient intake and 80 per cent of Moyne's.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, who is yet to make good on her promise to visit the burgeoning Warrnambool Base Hospital, praised the AIHW data which shows Victoria is the top performing state when it comes to median time-to-treatment for elective surgery data.

"Here in Victoria, patients are being treated faster than ever and getting back to their feet thanks to our world-class care," she said.

"Under the Liberals, Victoria's health system was in crisis. We've repaired their mess, with record funding and the big hospital projects that allow our nurses and doctors to do what they do best."

The institute's Dr Adrian Webster says three-quarters of Australians in the second-most urgent category - 'emergency' - were seen within the required 10 minutes.

When it comes to surgeries, he said the national wait list was growing below the five year average but so too was the number of people receiving surgery.

"These data suggest that, over time, growth in the number of people receiving elective surgery in public hospitals is not keeping up with demand for elective surgery," Dr Webster said.

South West Healthcare failed to respond to The Standard's contact for comment.

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