Toowoomba Hospital statistics show performance for December quarter

The photos shown of patients sitting on the Toowoomba Hospital floor seem to indicate a growing issue in its emergency department. But do the performance statistics reflect this?

New statistics have shown the performance of the Toowoomba Hospital’s emergency department, just days after photos emerged of patients sitting on the facility’s floor.

The numbers show the ED runs about the middle of the pack for most metrics in the final three months of 2021, including average wait times and the number of people seen within recommended times.

The department had an average wait time of 20 minutes for all triage categories – a higher performance than many major hospitals including Ipswich, Gympie, Bundaberg and Rockhampton.

There was an average wait time of seven minutes for patients in the category 2 triage – patients that require “very urgent attention”.

This equated to 79 per cent of patients in that category being seen in the recommended time.

Every patient admitted as a category 1 – people with immediately life-threatening conditions – were seen within recommended times.

About 66 per cent of patients across all triage categories were seen within a recommended time in the October-December quarter.

This was slightly higher than the July-September quarter, where the ED hit 65 per cent.

The December quarter figures were below the Queensland average of 74 per cent, but far above some lower performers like Bundaberg at 49 per cent, Logan Hospital at 56 per cent and Maryborough Hospital at 59 per cent.

More than 15,800 patients attended the Toowoomba emergency department in the December quarter.

An almost identical number attended in the September quarter.

About 3.6 per cent of attendees did not wait in the ED for treatments

The statistics come just days after Toowoomba Hospital boss stood by her staff and the centre’s record after photos emerged of sick patients waiting on the Emergency Department floor.

The photos were taken on Tuesday, the same day that more than 200 people presented at the ED.

“We are seeing unprecedented demand for services at the Toowoomba Hospital, and I would like to thank our staff for their commitment to safe care,” the hospital’s executive director Shirley-Anne Gardiner said.

“The Toowoomba Hospital has not called a code yellow for capacity and is open, so please don’t put off urgent care.”

Data collected by Queensland Health showed that from October to December the hospital treated 100 per cent of category one patients within the clinically recommended times.

About 79 per cent of category two patients were seen within clinically recommended times and this drops to 59 per cent for category three patients.

Ms Gardiner said ED staff categorised patients who were in the greatest need of care.

“Sometimes we see people come to our emergency department needing non-emergency care, and these patients may need to wait while care is given to people needing support for life-threatening illnesses or injuries including needing resuscitation, haemorrhages, severe burns, or anaphylaxis,” she said.

“It is sometimes difficult from the waiting room to tell what is happening in the emergency department as some critical patients are brought in by ambulance.

In 2021 the ED treated 63,285 patients of whom 464 were category one, 11,432 where category two and 35,404 were category three.

This is up from 58539 in 2020 and 58330 in 2019.

Patients are urged to contact 13 Health, their GP or a pharmacist first, unless it is clear that they need emergency care.

“By not using emergency department resources for non-emergency situations, you will allow emergency staff to focus on people who are seriously unwell and may find that you are treated more efficiently by the appropriate staff,” Ms Gardiner said.

The hospital did not respond to questions about whether it was adequately staffed for Toowoomba growing population.

Originally published as Toowoomba Hospital statistics show performance for December quarter