POSITIVE figures for Swan Hill District Health’s patient treatment times have come as the organisation commences a review into its capacity to offer the number of elective surgeries that it currently does.
Swan Hill District Health’s (SHDH) performance figures were released on Tuesday as part of the Victorian Health Services Performance Report for the June quarter.
The statistics showed that the organisation was consistently achieving targets for emergency department patient treatment times, in some cases more than 20 per cent above the state average.
And in spite of the above-average times, emergency department admissions increased about six per cent from the 2011 June quarter.
SHDH chief executive officer Ted Rayment said these statistics were “fantastic”.
“These are good results, we’re really pleased,” he said.
“I think there has been a lot of effort from the staff to pay close attention to improve the way we do business.
“It’s a good scorecard for the community health service.”
However, amid the positivity lies a growing problem.
Mr Rayment told The Guardian that SHDH was still delivering 11 per cent more patient services than what government was funding the organisation to deliver — a significant problem given tight budget constraints.
“The only way we can adjust that is through elective non-emergency surgery,” he said.
Mr Rayment said the symptoms of the adjustments would be an increase to the elective surgery waiting list and the extension of the holiday closure period.
However, he was clear there would be no effect on essential services.
