Davis – Elective surgery waiting list slashed by 3,718

· Elective surgery admissions up by 6,184, or 18 per cent
· Hospitals admit 382,417 patients in three months, up 8.2 per cent
· Victorian Coalition Government building a healthier Victoria

The elective surgery waiting list has fallen significantly over the past year, Minister for Health David Davis said today.

During the first three months of this year 40,427 patients were admitted from the waiting list, which was 6,184 (18 per cent) more than during the same period in 2013. Over that period, the number of patients on the waiting list fell by 7.4 per cent to 46,336.

Hospitals admitted 382,417 patients over the period, up by 8.2 per cent on the same quarter in 2013.

The March 2014 quarter Victorian Health Services Performance report also shows continuing improvement in ambulance transfer times.

During the reporting period, 87 per cent of ambulances transferred patients within the benchmark 40 minutes, up from 79 per cent a year earlier. The biggest year-on-year improvements were at Frankston Hospital and Monash Medical Centre Clayton.

“This report confirms that the recommendations of the Ambulance Transfer Taskforce are being successfully implemented, a strategy designed to accept patients more quickly and move them through the emergency department,” Mr Davis said.

Hospital emergency departments treated 391,993 patients in the three months to the end of March, up by more than 14,700 presentations a year earlier.

The Victorian Coalition Government this week announced a $190 million boost for elective surgery as part of the 2014/15 State Budget.

“The March elective surgery improvement is the result of the Coalition Government’s determination a year earlier to reverse the $107 million mid-year hospital funding cut by the former Gillard Federal Government,”
Mr Davis said.

Mr Davis said hospitals had given priority to elective surgery patients waiting the longest, and 91 per cent of Category 3 patients treated in the March quarter received their operations within the benchmark 365 days, more than half of them within 95 days. All Category 1 urgent patients received their surgery within the benchmark 30 days, more than half of them within 11 days.