Tamworth hospital end of 2022 BHI report reveals increased demand for emergency care

HNEH acting chief executive Tracey McCosker thanked staff for their "high quality, safe care" through the busy quarter.

"We thank the community for their patience and apologise to those who have waited longer than usual in the ED during this period of high activity," she said.

Staff at Tamworth hospital performed 15 more resuscitations than they did during the same months in 2021, a quarterly Bureau of Health Information (BHI) report found.

Resuscitations grew to 64 in total, and presentations to the emergency department (ED) also grew to 1,369 at the end of 2022, from 1,286 in October to December 2021.

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The amount of non-urgent presentations dropped 3.8 per cent to 1,497, and the majority of presentations were semi-urgent, at 4,778, recording a small dip of 0.3 per cent from 2021 figures.

At 49.7 per cent, Tamworth was below the state average of 58.4 per cent of patients leaving the ED within four hours.

It had the fourth lowest percentage in its peer group of patients leaving ED treated and discharged, at 58.3 per cent, a drop from 66.8 per cent in 2021.

Patients leaving without, or before, completing treatment, improved, dropping to 75.8 per cent, down from 79.8 in 2021.

Tamworth hospital had a record high number of ambulance arrivals, up 255 to reach 2,723.

There were 164 patients waiting longer than recommended for surgery in Tamworth. Patients ready for surgery on the waiting list at the end of 2022 in Tamworth was up 70 from 2021, to 1,930.

HNEH saw the most arrivals by ambulance in the state, and a record high since 2013 statistics, at 27,578. HNEH also did the most surgeries in the state.

The number of patients with an imminently life-threatening condition increased, with 14,719 of attendances needing treatment within 10 minutes, HNEH said.

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