Treatment times in Katoomba hospital's emergency department have improved dramatically in the latest figures released.
Statistics from the Bureau of Health Information, released on March 13, show that in October-December 2023, 71 per cent of patients in the ED had treatment starting on time, compared with just 60 per cent in the same period in 2022.
Transfers to the hospital from an ambulance were also up, with 95 per cent of patients being moved within 30 minutes as against 89 per cent in the previous year.
There was a big jump in the number of elective surgeries performed - 418 compared with just 195 in 2022. This is largely due to the transfer of eye surgery from Springwood hospital. It has also led to a huge increase in the number of patients on the elective surgery waiting list, now numbering 734 (up almost 500 patients).
But a breakdown by surgery category shows that 381 of those patients are awaiting cataract removal.
There were no patients waiting longer than recommended for elective surgery.
The hospital's acting general manager, Naomi Jensen, said: I'm incredibly proud of the dedication shown by the team here at Blue Mountains hospital.
"Everyone has worked tirelessly to improve performance in areas such as emergency department treatment times and it's great to see their hard work reflected in the latest BHI results.
"Our surgical teams have also done an outstanding job at managing the increased volume of surgeries performed at the hospital. The positive results reflects our commitment to all our patients and consumers that we are focused on improving the health care experience and providing the best possible care and outcomes."
At Nepean Hospital, a record number of 20,505 patients presented to the ED, up more than 1,600 on the corresponding period in 2022.
The hospital also improved on-time treatment, with 62 per cent being seen within 30 minutes, up from 57 per cent in the previous period.
Ambulance transfers were marginally better than the 2022 quarter, with 64 per cent moved within 30 minutes, up from 62 per cent.
The elective surgery numbers showed marked improvement. In the latest period, there were 2,171 surgeries carried out (up from 1,747) and 163 patients waited longer than clinically recommended compared with 1,011 in the October-December 2022 period.
There were more than 3,100 patients on the elective surgery waiting list (down from 3,432), with most waiting for knee replacements (321), tonsillectomies (238) and hip replacements (118).
Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District chief executive, Lee Gregory, said the latest Healthcare Quarterly report showed the district made significant progress in reducing the number of patients overdue for planned surgery by 73.2 per cent, despite record levels of activity across its EDs.
"From October to December 2023, NBMLHD continued to increase planned surgery activity, performing 3,114 planned surgeries, a record high for the District since BHI began reporting. This is a 19.6 per cent improvement, or 510 more planned surgeries, compared with the same quarter in 2022.
"Throughout the quarter, 99.2 per cent of urgent planned surgeries were performed on time."
There were 948 babies born at Nepean in the quarter; Katoomba welcomed 43.
