By DANE LILLINGSTONE
THE Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service (DDHHS) has released its annual report, showing steady improvements in services over the 2014/15 period.
According to the report, elective surgery waiting times have been cut and brought into line with national targets while nine out of 10 patients admitted were admitted to a ward, transferred or discharged within four hours.
Board chairman Mike Horan said the health service’s annual report showed their services were getting better every year.
“Our staff have worked consistently to reduce waiting lists for our services, and improve timeframes for patients to receive the care they need, while also maintaining a focus on quality and safety,” Mr Horan said.
“For the second year in a row, DDHHS provided more services than funded to do under our contract with the Department of Health.
“This is good news for our patients, their families, and the communities we serve.”
The most notable items to come from the report were:
* Achievement of National Elective Surgery Target (NEST) where no patients waited longer than clinically recommended for surgery (achieved December 2014).
* Exceeding the Queensland Emergency Access Target (QEAT) for 90 per cent of patients admitted to a ward, transferred or discharged within four hours across all facilities.
* Introduction of a new online training platform, called Darling Downs Learning On-Line, to support staff professional development.
* Delivered a record number of endoscopies so that by May 2015 no patients waited longer than clinically recommended.
* Significant infrastructure improvements for local facilities.
Based on the 2014/15 period, Darling Downs hospitals see 197 people a day discharged from DDHHS facilities after receiving in-patient care, 409 people a day treated in DDHHS emergency departments, 728 elective surgeries performed a month and 254 babies delivered a month.
