Hospitals on Mid North Coast improve performance in attendance, treatment time, ambulance arrivals

Hospitals in Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey and Macksville have scored well in the latest Healthcare Quarterly report.

Mid North Coast hospitals in Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey and Macksville have ranked well in the latest Healthcare Quarterly report by the Bureau of Health Information (BHI).

The report tracks activity and performance for hospital services.

The most recent report, released today, shows impressive local results over the October-December 2021 period.

Some noteworthy figures include a decrease in attendances, arrivals and presentations.

According to BHI, 570 less people attended Mid North Coast hospitals in late 2021, taking the total attendance down 1.6 per cent (on the quarter in 2020) to 35,405.

Port Macquarie saw the most attendees, with 12,237 patients, followed closely by Coffs Harbour with 11,273.

The number of people presenting to the hospital also decreased, with only 33,658 presentations in the 2021 quarter.

This is down 1.9 per cent on the 2020 October-December period.

Arrivals by ambulance were also significantly less in 2021, down 3.9 on the year before.

There were a total of 7326 ambulance arrivals, which is 295 less than the 2020 figures.

The Mid North Coast ranked sixth last in all three areas (attendance, presentations, ambulance arrivals), with local hospitals mostly outperformed by smaller local health districts like the far west.

The local region also saw an increase in areas such as transfer care times and starting treatment on time.

On the Mid North Coast, 77.6 per cent of treatments were started on time, which is up 5.1 per cent on the 2020 quarter.

This places the local health district around the middle of the pack when compared with the rest of NSW.

Slightly above the state average are the Mid North Coast’s transfer care figures.

Up less than one per cent on the 2020 quarter, 86 per cent of patients were transferred from paramedics to emergency department staff within 30 minutes.

BHI say the ongoing pandemic has triggered significant changes to the way health services have been delivered in NSW since 2020.

Mid North Coast Local Health District chief executive Stewart Dowrick said the impact of Covid was felt by the community as case numbers surged and demand for testing reached record levels.

“Our staff have worked exceptionally hard during these challenging times to continue to provide a safe environment and high-quality care for our patients,” he said.