Patients have spent less time in local emergency departments, after a new model of care was implemented.
Only one person spent more than 24 hours at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital emergency department from July to October in 2023 – an improvement from 37 patients during the same period in 2022.
Eight people spent more than 24 hours at Nambour General Hospital from July to October, compared to 38 from the corresponding time frame a year earlier.
Sunshine Coast Health issued a media release in December, emphasising a successful implementation of a new model of care.It said that frontline clinical teams had worked hard to flow patients through hospitals and that.
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.Sunshine Coast Health Chief Executive Dr Peter Gillies said they were trying hard to reduce wait times.“Our busy emergency departments provide safe and timely healthcare to tens of thousands of patients each month, and we are always working on new initiatives to improve patient experience, including reducing the time spent in emergency,” he said via the media release.
“By efficiently and effectively streaming patients we are able to direct patients to the most suitable care, including the short stay unit and transfer initiative nurses to help reduce the time our patients spend in our emergency departments.“This fast track and rapid assessment model has seen an improvement in patient flow, and importantly, has seen better outcomes for our patients.“We are also supporting flow through our emergency departments with a number of other initiatives including virtual care, rapid access services, and our Command Centre at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.“With the strong working relationship between the local Queensland Ambulance Service and Sunshine Coast Health, we are seeing efficiencies in our emergency departments here on the Sunshine Coast.”
The improvements come after Sunshine Coast Health was again placed by Queensland Health in the bottom level of the Performance and Accountability Framework in 2022, services were placed under immense strain in 2022 and more patients sought treatment, in 2023 when ramping reached high levels.
It was also revealed in October that more patients had been turning to hospitals for relatively minor conditions including urinary tract infections, in-grown toenails and ear or throat infections that could be treated elsewhere.
A Sunshine Coast Health Command Centre was established and working hours was impacted among administration staff at Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Nambour Hospital, to streamline services.
Like stories that inform, connect and celebrate the Sunshine Coast? So do we. Join an independent local news revolution by subscribing to our FREE daily news feed at the bottom of this article.
