Surgical staff kick goals in latest quarterly report

Hard work and teamwork has led to 98.9% of elective surgeries being performed on time across Western Sydney Local Health District.

Staff across the district performed 5,018 elective surgeries in April-June this year, according to figures made public today in the latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly report.

The performance was a small but significant increase on the results from the same quarter in 2018, despite an additional 296 more procedures being performed.

WSLHD chief executive Graeme Loy said all the teams involved ought to be congratulated for their stellar work.

“These results do not come easily. It’s a testament to the hard work of doctors, nurses, operations assistants, bookings and admissions teams, and support staff across our hospitals,” Graeme Loy.

Ensuring elective procedures are performed on time requires constant vigilance from the bookings and admissions team, who balance the needs of patients with the safe workload of surgeons.

Teamwork is also needed within each hospital to ensure there are beds ready for patients as they recover from their procedure.

The latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly report also showed that for the second consecutive quarter, more than 50,000 patients presented to WSLHD emergency departments (ED).

In the April-June quarter the district saw 3,271 more ED presentations than the same time last year – a 6.9% rise. This included an additional 1,013 more arrivals by ambulance.

Despite responding to the continued significant rise in presentations, the majority of patients across the district started their treatment on time and left the ED within four hours.

Blacktown Hospital ED in particular made a commendable effort, improving the proportion of patients starting treatment on time to 73.5% while dealing with 1,123 more presentations than the same time last year.