While emergency departments across the state have been swamped with more patients than ever before, Moree Hospital has seen a decline in the number of patients presented to emergency, according to a performance snapshot.
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The Bureau of Health Information (BHI) quarterly report revealed the number of people who presented to the emergency department from January to March 2019 dropped by close to 12 per cent compared to the same period last year.
A total of 2013 people presented to the emergency department from January to March this year, down by 264 people the previous year.
Of these, 261 arrived by ambulance, with ambulance arrivals also down 14 per cent on the previous year (a difference of 43).
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While 87 per cent of patients started treatment on time, compared to only 71 per cent of the state, the overall waiting times saw a slight increase overall compared to the same quarter last year.
This last quarter it took a minute less to treat someone who presented with an emergency (from seven minutes down to six), while patients with an urgent problem had to wait three minutes longer (from nine minutes up to 12). The median time to treatment for semi-urgent patients was 15 minutes, up from 11, while non-urgent cases were treated in 16 minutes, up from eight.
BHI Chief Executive Dr Diane Watson said this decline in timliness was reflected across the state.
"At NSW level, the timeliness of care provided to patients has declined from last year," she said.
"The results vary across hospitals - with some experiencing bigger drops than we see at NSW level, while others had stable or improved performance despite increased activity."
Most people were able to leave the ED within an hour and a half, with 85 per cent of patients leaving within four hours of arrival - better than only 70 per cent statewide.
A total of 69 elective surgeries were performed at Moree Hospital between January and March, up 21 per cent from last year, with waiting times also increasing. The median wait time for a non-urgent elective surgery was 197 days, up by 55 days on the previous year, while it was only a 15-day wait for urgent elective surgeries.
Of the 839 patients who were admitted to Moree Hospital in the three-month period, 833 were for acute episodes, with the average length of stay 2.2 days.
There were 36 babies born in Moree Hospital from January to March this year, up 33 per cent on last year, when 27 were born over the three months.
