Geelong hospital emergency department attends to more patients than The Alfred the past five years

DEMAND at the Geelong hospital’s emergency department is rising twice as fast as the city’s booming population, putting a strain on patient waiting times.

The Geelong hospital emergency department is seeing more people than The Alfred hospital in Melbourne. Picture: Alison Wynd

DEMAND at the Geelong hospital’s emergency department is rising twice as fast as the city’s booming population, putting a strain on patient waiting times.

The city’s growth has been so large the hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) has attended to more patients than The Alfred hospital in Melbourne for each of the past five years, seeing an average of 3500 more patients each year.

While The Alfred saw 65,058 patients in 2016-17, the Geelong hospital attended to 69,706.

The hospital’s ED is reporting a year-on-year patient increase of 5 per cent — double the region’s population growth of about 2.5 per cent.

The growth may be putting a strain on the ED, where fewer than 40 per cent of urgent patients were seen on time in a recent one-week period, according to Barwon Health figures.

The hospital’s ED saw 2574 patients between June 26 and July 8, missing its ‘seen on time’ targets for four out of five triage categories. The hospital claimed to have seen all ‘resuscitation’ category patients immediately.

The ED saw just 39 per cent of ‘urgent’ patients on time — understood to be within 30 minutes — during the period, well under its 80 per cent target. ‘Urgent’ patients are typically in a serious but stable condition, including wounds or abdominal pain.

Of the ED’s ‘semi-urgent’ patients, such as those with broken arms or legs, just 55 per cent were seen on time, again well below the 80 per cent target.

The hospital barely missed its ‘on-time’ targets for both ‘emergency’ and ‘non-urgent’ categories.

Barwon Health ED consultant Bruce Bartley said there was always room for improvement in the hospital’s ED.

“We always treat patients according to clinical need and unfortunately some people have to wait because others are more sick or injured,” Mr Bartley said.

“The Emergency Department (ED) has seen 5 per cent recurrent growth over recent years, seeing more patients every year due to steady population growth from new developments within the region, such as Warralily and Armstrong Creek.

“Geelong’s increased population means increased numbers in each triage category, but we also see a greater increase in the acuity of people presenting to the ED, which means patients have complex conditions that require more treatment time.”

Mr Bartley said the hospital had received extra funding for staffing, and had appointed two positions to address “patient flow” — including a paediatric registrar and a nurse.

The latest figures come a month after the Geelong Advertiser revealed the Geelong hospital’s ED was being flooded with minor ailments ranging from common colds to stubbed toes.

The Addy investigation found dozens of people were arriving at the department with non-urgent conditions, despite the unit being designed to treat critically ill or injured patients.

It also comes after Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures found just 52 per cent of the ED’s 25,687 ‘urgent’ patients in 2016-17 were seen ‘on time’ (within 30 minutes).

The figures, released in January, resulted in Australia’s peak medical body calling on the State Government to investigate developing a second public hospital in Geelong to cope with the city’s population boom.

Originally published as Geelong hospital emergency department attends to more patients than The Alfred the past five years