The latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly report shows a record number of patients attended Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) emergency departments including Lismore, as hospitals continued to reduce the overdue planned surgery wait list by almost 80 per cent during the final quarter of 2023.

While there are some strong signs of a positive healthcare outcome in most hospitals in the Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD), it was more of the same for Lismore Base Hospital with the BHI report showing no improvement in some key areas.

The arrivals by ambulance was 2,910, an increase of 107 or 3.8% while Tweed (a peer hospital) also increased by 3.7% to 2,804 arrivals.

The percentage of patients transferred from paramedics to emergency department (ED) staff within 30 minutes saw a large decrease for Lismore Base from 82.3% to 67.3% placing it second bottom on the peer group result (similar sized hospitals in NSW such as Tweed, Orange and Port Macquarie) and clearly bottom for the NNSWLHD hospital with Tweed next at 78.3%.

The concerning results continued with the percentage of patients starting treatment on time in the ED. The peer group result was 64.2%, Lismore's result was 57.6%, down 0.2% on the corresponding 2022 result while the NNSWLHD had an impressive 73.8% led by Byron Central and The Tweed.

The final statistic was the percentage of people leaving the ED within 4 hours. The peer result was 53.6%, Lismore Base was 52.5% while the NNSWLHD average was 72.5%. Again, Lismore Base was clearly bottom with Grafton next with 68.2%.

The housing crisis in the Northern Rivers is one of the driving forces of Lismore Base Hospital's poor results as it cannot attract nurses and doctors into the area. As a new peer hospital, Tweed is showing what can be achieved and what Lismore can aspire to once the Resilient Land Program creates more housing.

Northern NSW Local Health District’s Director of Clinical Operations, Lynne Weir, said the results are a testament to the continued hard work of staff across the District during the busy October to December quarter in 2023.

“Across the District, there were 3,802 planned surgeries performed during the quarter, and pleasingly, the number of patients overdue for their planned procedure at end of December 2023 was reduced by 79 per cent, or 1,100 patients compared with the same quarter in 2022,” Ms Weir said.

"This is the seventh consecutive quarter of improvement in this area, which ultimately means we are providing more timely care for our patients.

“This is a fantastic result for the District and a testament to our staff, reducing in a 12-month period the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for planned surgery from 1,388 at the end of December 2022 to 288 patients at the end of December 2023 is nothing short of extraordinary.”

The majority of all planned surgeries (76 per cent), as well as almost all urgent planned surgeries (95.6 per cent) were performed on time. The percentage of semi-urgent and non-urgent planned surgeries performed on time also improved by 3 and 12.6 percentage points respectively, compared with the same quarter in 2022.

At the same time, the October to December 2023 quarter was one of the busiest on record for several local emergency departments and for the District overall.

“There were 58,202 attendances to NNSWLHD EDs, an increase of 3.2 per cent, or 1,821 more attendances than for the same quarter in 2022, and the most ever recorded for the LHD,” Ms Weir said.

“There were increases in presentations across all triage categories, and the most ambulance arrivals on record, with 9,663 for the quarter.”

More than seven in 10 patients (73.8 per cent) started treatment on time and nearly eight in 10 patients (78.8 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.

All patients are seen and triaged on arrival at the ED and, as always, the most seriously unwell patients are treated first. During busy times, those with less urgent conditions can experience longer wait times when there are large numbers of seriously unwell patients being prioritised for emergency care.

Any patient who feels their condition may have deteriorated while waiting for their surgery is encouraged to contact their treating doctor who can review their condition and place them in a higher urgency category, if appropriate.

NNSWLHD continues to remind everyone to support us by saving emergency departments and ambulances for saving lives. If an illness or injury is not serious or life-threatening, we encourage people to call Healthdirect Australia on 1800 022 222, for 24-hour telephone health advice.

INDIVIDUAL HOSPITAL RESULTS

BALLINA DISTRICT HOSPITAL had 4,887 ED attendances during the quarter. The majority of patients (66.7 per cent) started their ED treatment on time. More than seven in 10 patients (75.5 per cent) left the ED within four hours. More than eight in 10 patients (82.5 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.

BYRON CENTRAL HOSPITAL had 6,038 ED attendances throughout the last quarter of 2023. The majority of patients (84.2 per cent) started their ED treatment on time and eight in 10 patients (81.0%) left the ED within four hours of arriving. More than nine in 10 patients (92.8 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.

CASINO & DISTRICT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL had 3,691 ED attendances in the quarter. The majority of patients (68 per cent) started treatment on time and more than eight in 10 patients (83.8 per cent) left the ED within four hours of arriving. More than nine in 10 patients (91.1 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.

GRAFTON BASE HOSPITAL had 7,188 ED attendances during this quarter. The majority of patients (61.7 percent) started treatment on time and almost seven in 10 patients (68.2 per cent) left the ED within four hours. More than eight in 10 patients (86.1 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.

LISMORE BASE HOSPITAL had 10,355 ED attendances during the quarter, and a significant increase in the number of patients requiring the most urgent level of care, Triage category 1: resuscitation, compared with the same quarter in 2022. The majority of patients (57.6 per cent) started their treatment on time. The majority of patients left the ED within four hours of arriving (52.5 per cent).

MACLEAN DISTRICT HOSPITAL had 3,938 ED attendances during the quarter. Eight in 10 patients (80.3 per cent) started their treatment on time and more than eight in 10 (85.8 per cent) of patients left the ED within four hours. Nine in 10 patients (91.7 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.

MURWILLUMBAH DISTRICT HOSPITAL had 5,226 ED attendances during the quarter, the most on record, and almost double the number of patients requiring the most urgent level of care, Triage category 1: resuscitation, compared with the same quarter in 2022. The majority of patients (80.6 per cent) started their treatment on time, and more than eight in 10 patients (82.9 per cent) left the ED within four hours of arriving. Almost all patients (95.7 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.

THE TWEED HOSPITAL had 14,484 ED attendances during the quarter, the highest on record. More than eight in 10 patients (83 per cent) started their treatment on time, which is significantly better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW. More than seven in 10 (71.2 per cent) of patients left the ED within four hours of arriving, and almost eight in 10 patients (78.3 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.