NSW Health has thanked its frontline hospital staff for their extraordinary efforts over the peak winter period, with data showing they cared for a record number of patients.
NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce said the Bureau of Health Information report shows 764,610 patient presentations in the July to September winter quarter.
“Patient numbers for the winter quarter are unprecedented – up more than 47,000 on the same period last year – yet our teams have done us proud,” Ms Pearce said.
“More than 70 per cent of patients presenting to our emergency departments had their treatment start on time and given the extraordinary numbers, it’s a brilliant effort.
“We’ve just experienced the longest flu season in a decade - the longest since the 2009 pandemic and hospital presentations have been unrelenting since January.”
Ms Pearce said an AIHW report also released today showed that in 2018-2019, NSW leads the country as the best performer in many aspects of elective surgery and emergency department care.
“Once again, NSW elective surgery performance leads the country, with 96.6 per cent of all elective surgeries performed within the clinically recommended time frames.”
“Despite almost three million patients presenting to an ED in NSW, the AIHW report shows NSW patients are seen faster than those in any other state or territory.”
The Bureau of Health Information report showed NSW Ambulance had a very busy quarter, with close to 320,177 ambulance responses, up by 7.6 per cent or an additional 22,543 responses on the same quarter in 2018.
In 2019-20, the NSW Government is investing a record $26.7 billion in health, with
$20.1 billion going towards improving service in hospitals and $19.7 million on improving mental health services, under a record $90 million commitment.
More than $1 billion is being invested in NSW Ambulance services in 2019-20, including $27.1 million to employ an additional 221 paramedics and call centre staff under the NSW Government’s record commitment to employ an additional 750 paramedics and call centre staff over four years.
Another $2.8 billion is being invested to recruit 8,300 extra frontline staff, including 5000 nurses and midwives, over four years, with 45 per cent for regional NSW.