Shorter stays in hospital and improved bed availability at the Royal Hobart Hospital are just some of the health improvements outlined in new statistics released today by Health Services Innovation Tasmania (HIS Tas).
The improvements have been recorded as part of the University of Tasmania’s clinical redesign program which is supported by the Government.
Improvements confirmed at the RHH:
• In General Medicine a reduction in the average length of stay of nearly one day which equates to an additional 3000 bed days a year to treat sick Tasmanians. The more efficient use of resources also helps reduce access block and emergency department overcrowding.
• Urgent ear, nose and throat surgery – a drop from 389 to 61 adult patients waiting for an appointment time.
• Not one paediatric patient waiting for an appointment time (previously there were 208)
• Plastic surgery – a one-third reduction in the list from 1000 to 675
• Ophthalmology, the number of outpatients has declined from 750 to 468.
Health improvements are also happening across the state.
At the Launceston General Hospital, there has also been a reduction of the average length of stay in General Medicine by more than half a day.
While in the North West there has been a focus on reducing delays in the starting times of surgeries.
There is always more work to be done, but as Minister I welcome the improvements that have been made and thank our dedicated staff for their hard work and continued efforts to get the best results for patients.
