Progress Chart May 2008
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Your Health and Human Services Progress Chart May 2008 Department of Health and Human Services Published by Shared Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmania. © Copyright State of Tasmania, Department of Health and Human Services, 2008. This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Published on www.dhhs.tas.gov.au May 2008 ISSN 1823-3015 Your Health and Human Services: Progress Chart May 2008 Your Health and Human Services Progress Chart The May 2008 Progress Chart tells a familiar story of Tasmania’s health and human services system. We see increased numbers of people helped in our hospitals, particularly through our Emergency Departments and outpatient clinics. Waiting times are improving overall but more people need elective surgery. The new Australian Government has already invested in Tasmania’s health system and is working with us to implement Tasmania’s Health Plan as the best way to deal with health service delivery challenges that face Governments around the world. I recently released an update of Tasmania’s Health Plan to reflect the transfer of the Lara Giddings, MP Mersey Campus of the North West Regional Hospital to Australian Government operations. To better support Tasmania’s children and their families we have undertaken significant reform and improvement in Child Protection and will continue the process of changing the way we deliver family support services and out-of-home care support for children who are unable to remain with their families. In this edition of the Progress Chart we see a significant decrease in the number of unallocated child protection referrals, though child protection referrals remain high. Waiting lists in Disability Services continue to grow and I look forward to meeting Disability Ministers to discuss the Australian Government’s commitment to increasing investment in Disability Services across Australia. The recently completed KPMG Review will underpin a new direction in Disability Services provision to better support people with a disability and their families and carers. Providing housing support to low income Tasmanians continues to be challenging with more people on waiting lists, record occupancy levels in public housing and increased pressure on rental support. Secure housing provides a platform for healthier lives and stronger communities. We will continue to support the continued development of public, social and affordable housing throughout Tasmania. Service changes and investment in dental services continue to be reflected in greatly increased service provision as a result of the employment of additional dentists and the provision of care to public patients through the private sector on the North West Coast. I commend the May 2008 edition of the Progress Chart to you. Lara Giddings MP Minister for Health and Human Services Your Health and Human Services: Progress Chart May 2008 What is the overall level of activity in our hospitals? A separation is an episode of admitted patient care. Figure 1: Admitted patients – number of raw separations Raw separations are not adjusted for the complexity (for the 9 months ending March) of the episode of care and represent each individual episode of care in a given period. 40 000 The total number of raw separations for our state’s 30 000 public hospitals increased by 2.5 per cent in the nine ) 33 558 31 559 months ending 31 March 2008 when compared to (no. 20 000 30 027 27 944 26 403 26 087 1 3 3 the same period in 2007. The RHH activity levels 25 090 0 24 060 increased by 6.3 per cent over this period while LGH 10 000 6 19 6 10 6 02 5 60 and NWRH activity levels showed slight decreases of 1.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively. RHH LGH NWRH 2005 2006 2007 2008 Weighted separations show the level and complexity Figure 2: Admitted patients – number of weighted separations of the work done in public hospitals, by combining (for the 9 months ending March) two measures: the number of times people come into hospital and how sick people are when they 40 000 come into hospital. 30 000 The number of weighted separations in our hospitals 37 439 37 105 ) 36 801 has continued to increase statewide in recent years, 35 712 (no. 20 000 8 with a one per cent increase for the nine months 1 0 4 23 422 23 372 to 31 March 2008, compared to the same period in 22 569 20 793 7 65 7 44 10 000 7 35 2007. The increase in activity reflects the increasing 6 81 demand for acute care services. The number of weighted separations remained RHH LGH NWRH relatively stable at the RHH and LGH, and increased 2005 2006 2007 2008 by 4.2 per cent at the NWRH over the period. Your Health and Human Services: Progress Chart May 2008 How many times have Tasmanians been treated in our outpatient clinics? Outpatient clinics treat patients who require Figure 3: Outpatient Department, occasions of service medical services in a hospital or clinical setting, (for the 9 months ending March) but who do not require a stay in a hospital. The number of occasions of service in Tasmanian 400 000 outpatient clinics has increased by 1.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, with 300 000 ) 597 061 occasions of service for the nine months (no. 336 230 336 200 000 757 323 313 916 313 ending March 2008. The number of outpatient 212 304 occasions of service increased by 3.9 per cent 100 000 67 499 65 311 60 851 58 287 202 544 202 at the RHH and remained relatively stable at the 055 201 184 252 184 LGH, while at the NWRH the occasions of service 187 163 decreased by 4.2 per cent due to temporary staff RHH LGH NWRH shortages that have since been addressed. 2005 2006 2007 2008 How busy are our emergency departments? Emergency department services are provided at Figure 4: Emergency Department presentations each of the state’s major hospitals. Emergency (for the 9 months ending March) departments provide care for a range of illnesses and injuries, particularly those of a life-threatening 40 000 nature. Growth in presentations reflects difficulty in accessing general practice services around Tasmania. 30 000 ) This information shows the number of times that (no. 20 000 30 800 29 908 29 511 28 676 people presented at our emergency departments 27 338 25 772 24 139 across the state. In the nine months to 31 March 10 000 23 039 18 649 18 243 17 430 2008 there were 76 787 presentations in the state’s 16 704 emergency departments. Presentations at the RHH increased by 4.4 per cent, at the LGH by 6.1 per cent RHH LGH NWRH and at the NWRH by 2.2 per cent. This represents a 4.4 per cent increase statewide over the same 2005 2006 2007 2008 period in the previous year. Your Health and Human Services: Progress Chart May 2008 What percentage of patients is seen within recommended time frames in our emergency departments? Australian Triage Scale Category 2 patients are Figure 5: Patients who were seen within the recommended time those who require emergency treatment for very frame for DEM Australian Triage Scale Category 2 severe pain or imminently life-threatening or time- (for the 9 months ending March) critical treatment. The Australasian College for 100 Emergency Medicine has set a target of 80 per cent of Category 2 patients to be seen 80 83.1 82.9 within 10 minutes. 82.3 % 60 75.9 74.5 71.9 71.4 67.2 67.1 % 65.5 For the nine months ending 31 March 2008, the 65.0 40 62.1 percentage of Category 2 patients seen statewide within the recommended time frames increased 20 to 74.6 per cent, compared to 74.1 per cent in the same period in the previous year. The RHH increased from 65 per cent to 75.9 per cent and RHH LGH NWRH the NWRH decreased from 82.9 per cent to 2005 2006 2007 2008 82.3 per cent, both of which exceed the most recent Australian average (2005-06) of 75 per cent (Source: Australian Hospital Statistics 2005-06). The LGH decreased from 74.5 per cent to 65.5 per cent due to an increase in activity in the emergency department. Measures to improve patient flow are being implemented to reduce waiting times for the more urgent cases. These fluctuations reflect the difficulties experienced by emergency departments in meeting the increasing demand for services. What is the rate of hospital readmissions? This shows the percentage of patients who Figure 6: Unplanned readmissions within 28 days require an unexpected and unplanned readmission (for the 9 months ending March) to hospital within 28 days of being discharged. This could be due to a relapse or a complication 8 94 76 62 resulting from the illness for which the patient was 5. 5. 5. initially admitted, although an unplanned readmission 87 4. 6 5 1 6. can also include admissions for conditions that are 8 6. ) 5. 54 not related to the previous admission. 31 7 3. 16 4 03 3. (no. 4. 73 3. 3. 65 2 7 34 2. 4 Readmission rates reflect a complex combination 3 2. 3. 2. 1 0 2. 3. 3. 7 3. 5 3. of admission and discharge policies, quality of 2 4 2. 2. 2. care at the hospital, community and home level and demographic factors, which can lead to some variations between hospital sites.