By Eleanor Wilson
After 12 months battling to keep up with demand, new data shows things are looking up for Casey Hospital’s emergency department (ED).
But the latest quarterly statistics from the Victorian Agency of Health Information shows the hospital system remains under pressure across the state.
Released on 28 October, the data shows the median wait time for treatment in Casey’s ED has dropped from 38 minutes last quarter to 30 minutes, while 90th percentile waiting times fell by 16 minutes to 156 minutes, over two-and-a-half hours, bringing them on par with figures from January to March this year.
The median wait time for semi urgent (Category 2) elective surgery has also eased, falling from 208 days to 164 days. The current statewide average is 84 days.
Despite the improvements, compared to hospitals across the state, it appears Casey hospital is still struggling to keep up with demand.
Statistics from the previous quarter show that statewide, 52.64 per cent of Category 2 patients in emergency departments were treated within the recommended time of 10 minutes.
At Casey Hospital, this rate was just 22 per cent – the second lowest figure across the state, behind Monash Medical Centre in Clayton.
Patients are also spending more time in Casey ED. This quarter 78 patients stayed longer than 24 hours in the ED, compared with 48 patients last quarter.
Despite the number of ambulance presentations jumping 11 per cent, median ambulance transfer times dropped by three minutes.
Casey Hospital is one of 12 major hospitals to receive additional specialist staff to improve patient flow and help progress patients along their care pathway, including access to planned surgery, according to the State Government.
