A surge of patients with COVID or suspected COVID infections during May occupied a third of Ballarat Base Hospital beds at its peak, causing a backlog of patients unable to be admitted to hospital from the emergency department and a reduction in elective surgery.
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Between April and June, 627 patients awaiting admission to hospital spent more than 24 hours in the ED - more than three times higher than the same period in 2022 - many as a result of COVID and suspected COVID patients occupying so many beds preventing timely transfers from ED.
According to the Victorian Agency for Health Information's quarterly Victorian Health Services Performance report, almost five per cent of patients admitted via Ballarat Base Hospital's ED waited more than 24 hours in the April-June quarter, compared to just under 1.5 per cent a year ago.
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Grampians Health chief operating officer hospitals Ben Kelly said the COVID wave lasted around a month but ran into the increased winter demand usually seen annually with influenza and other illnesses.
Works being completed to increase the capacity of the ED, transforming the former maternity outpatient area into 12 extra cubicles to operate as an ambulatory emergency department area, also reduced the number of patients able to be treated in the ED and short stay unit.
Mr Kelly said it was a case of "short term pain for long term gain" but the opening of the new ED area last month had improved the situation.
"It's enabled the ED to flow better with more space to see patients," he said.
Patients being treated in the ambulatory ED area are typically those requiring treatment but not hospital admission, and its use is likely to evolve over time.
"It's certainly a more pleasant environment in the ED for our staff and we've been very mindful of how difficult it's been," he said.
Mr Kelly said a number of initiatives had combined to help ease pressure in the ED in recent months.
Despite the COVID surge, waiting times for treatment in the emergency department and the percentage of patients treated within the recommended time improved across all categories of illness and injury.
"Wait times are better but nowhere near where we want it to be. It's better but we still have a long way to go," he said.
The number of people who left after receiving advice from triage nurses increased about 200 per cent, with most referred to the nearby Ballarat Priority Primary Care Centre which opened at the end of October, to provide urgent care for people with more minor illness and injury.
"Our staff say 'have you considered going to the PPCC?' and people are taking on that advice which is quite a positive in the context of the policy change within the state," Mr Kelly said.
In total, ED staff treated 11,532 patients across April, May and June, 2023, equivalent to about 126 patients a day - 274 fewer than the same period in 2022.
The number of category one urgent cases, which require immediate treatment, were similar with 169 treated from April to June this year compared to 163 for the same time last year. The number of category two and three patients fell slightly.
The peak quarter over the past 12 months occurred from October to December when 11,947 patients were treated at Ballarat Base Hospital ED - or more than 131 patients a day.
Mr Kelly said the hospital was on target to treated around 5700 elective surgery patients during 2023-2024, but state mandated operating theatre shutdowns in October had reduced the number of surgeries completed in 2022-2023.
"We are very proud of the fact that our indicators about high quality and safe care are most positive," he said.
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"It is important for our community to know that Grampians Health Ballarat continues to deliver high quality and safe care as demonstrated through state-wide feedback. In things like mortality rate for people who have had a heart attack, or someone who has pneumonia or stroke, we really are performing better than the state average."
Mr Kelly also welcomed feedback around improved cultural safety for Indigenous patients following the introduction of Aboriginal Health Liason Officers known as AHLOs.
The AHLOs, who are available throughout the hospital, spent time with Indigenous patients and ensure staff and treatment is culturally sensitive.
"The percentage of admitted (Indigenous) patients who left against medical advice is the lowest of anywhere in the state. We had 0.7 per cent which is a significant improvement for us ... compared to the state average of 2.5 per cent."
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