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Two northern beaches hospitals get top marks as their ER departments get set to close

Two Sydney hospitals are among the top performing in NSW, according to the latest statistics. But despite this, both of their ER departments are about to close.

A generic shot of Mona Vale Hospital. Picture: (AAP IMAGE / Damian Shaw)
A generic shot of Mona Vale Hospital. Picture: (AAP IMAGE / Damian Shaw)

MANLY and Mona Vale hospitals are two of the best performing hospitals in northern Sydney, according to the latest statistics.

For the quarter January to March 2018, staff were quicker at getting emergency department patients discharged or transferred to a ward within four hours than any other hospital in northern Sydney, including Royal North Shore.

A shot of Manly Hospital. Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily
A shot of Manly Hospital. Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily

It comes as both emergency departments will close at the end of October when the new Northern Beaches Hospital in Frenchs Forest opens.

The latest figures show Manly Hospital managed to deal with 87.1 per cent of emergency patients within the target time, while Mona Vale Hospital achieved it 85.6 per cent of cases.

The state average is 74.4 per cent.

The median time urgent patients were treated was 12 minutes at Manly and 16 minutes at Mona Vale.

This was despite a rise in the number of people arriving at both emergency departments.

Manly Hospital experienced a 2.3 per cent increase in emergency presentations for the January to March 2018 quarter compared to the same period last year.

The new Northern Beaches Hospital at Frenchs Forest. Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily
The new Northern Beaches Hospital at Frenchs Forest. Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily

Transfer of care from ambulance paramedics to emergency department staff hit 98.2 per cent for the quarter, up 0.7 per cent on the 2017 quarter.

Ambulance arrivals increased by seven per cent at Mona Vale Hospital during the January to March 2018 quarter compared to the same period the previous year.

Despite the increase in ambulance presentations, Mona Vale Hospital managed to exceed the transfer of care target of 90 per cent of ambulances offloaded within 30 minutes with an excellent score of 97.8 per cent.

Deb Willcox, Chief Executive of Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD). Picture: Supplied.
Deb Willcox, Chief Executive of Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD). Picture: Supplied.

ED emergency presentations remained stable at Mona Vale for the quarter, with 85.6 per cent of those leaving within four hours, an improvement of 1.9 per cent on last year.

Elective surgeries remained at 100 per cent on time across all categories.

Emergency departments across NSLHD continued to experience high demand in 2018, with emergency presentations across all hospitals up 2.5 per cent on the previous year.

Almost 54,000 presentations were recorded across the district in January to March 2018 period, but despite this increase, the district improved or maintained all of its emergency department performance indicators resulting in reduced wait times and faster transfer of care for patients.

Deb Willcox, Chief Executive of NSLHD, said it was testament to the hard work and dedication of all staff in facilities across the district.

“It was another busy quarter, and I am proud to say we performed well across all of our hospitals — I’d like to thank all of our staff for their excellent work,” she said.

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/manly-daily/two-northern-beaches-hospitals-get-top-marks-as-their-er-departments-get-set-to-close/news-story/b5cfd7339e3c6514c0a19a3eed4dca6d