Health District CEO defends Gosford Hospital wait times

Central Coast Local Health District has hit back at claims by Gosford state MP Liesl Tesch that patients are being forced to wait longer for care at Gosford Hospital.

Tesch said Bureau of Health Information (BHI) Healthcare Quarterly results for October-December 2021 showed presentations at the hospital were at an all-time high, with ambulance and emergency department wait times substantially longer than the same quarter in the previous year.

Tesch said the report revealed only 43.8 per cent of Priority 1 calls to ambulances were responded to within 15 minutes (a 10.2 per cent decrease) and only 53.9 per cent of treatment was started on time (a 7.3 per cent decrease).

She said there was a 17 per cent increase to 3,253 patients on the waiting list for elective surgery and only 49.4 per cent of patients were leaving the Emergency Department within four hours (a 6.1 per cent decrease).

She said 19,224 people attended Gosford Hospital emergency department compared to 17,663 in the previous quarter.

Tesch said the situation had been brewing for years but was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“After two absolutely gruelling years dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, our doctors and nurses deserve appropriate patient-to-healthcare professional ratios, and so does our community,” she said.

“It is blatantly clear more needs to be done to fix our struggling health services and staff on the Central Coast.”

Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD) CEO, Scott McLachlan, acknowledged the report highlighted “another incredibly challenging period for our staff, patients and community”.

“This quarter was impacted by the ongoing Delta outbreak as well as the emergence of the Omicron outbreak,” he said.

Nevertheless, staff at Gosford Hospital continued to provide high-quality and safe care, he said.

McLachlan said the almost 19,300 presentations in the Emergency Department was a 5.7 per cent decrease, with 1,166 fewer attendances, than the same period in 2020.

“Despite the decrease in attendances, emergency department performance at Gosford Hospital was impacted by the need to follow strict processes to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the ED and protect patients, carers and staff,” he said.

“CCLHD is carrying out plans to reduce waiting and treatment times at Gosford Hospital. We have made our Emergency Department Short Stay Units (EDSSU) at both Gosford and Wyong hospitals available at all times.

“Our EDSSUs provide care for patients who require short-term assessment, treatment and observation, freeing up emergency department beds for other patients.

“We are also streamlining our admissions and discharge processes. This includes improving how bed bookings are made and ensuring patients who are ready to be discharged are reviewed earlier in the day so the beds are ready for new patients coming through from our emergency departments.”

McLachlan said non-urgent elective surgery was temporarily paused during the quarter at both Gosford and Wyong hospitals so the resources and capacity required for the COVID-19 response could be maintained.

“Despite this necessary pause, 809 elective surgeries were performed at Gosford Hospital during the October to December 2021 quarter and almost all urgent elective surgeries (97.7 per cent) were performed on time,” he said.

“Non-urgent elective surgery has now resumed on the Central Coast, and we expect to be operating at normal capacity in the coming weeks.”

McLachlan said long-term elective surgery recovery plans included adding more operating theatre sessions at both Gosford and Wyong hospitals as well as continuing to partner with private hospitals to perform some surgeries.

“The 2021-22 budget for Central Coast Local Health District is over $948M, an increase of more than $32M, or 3.5 per cent, on the previous year’s budget,” he said.

“Between mid-2012 and mid-2021, the District increased its workforce by an additional 1,265 full-time equivalent staff – an increase of 28.7 per cent – including 239 more doctors, 519 more nurses and midwives and 131 more allied health staff.”

Terry Collins