Shoalhaven Hospital was the worst performing in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, and one on the worst in the state, when it came to treating emergency department patients on time, according to the latest Bureau of Health Information data.
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The report for the second quarter of 2023 showed just 55.2 per cent of the patients presenting to Shoalhaven Hospital's emergency department were treated on time.
While the result was the fifth worst among the state's 20 major hospitals, it was a marked improvement on the same quarter last year when only 46.3 per cent of patients were treated on time.
Milton Hospital was the best performing in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District when it came to emergency department treatment times, with 75 per cent of patients treated on time.
However that was down 2.9 per cent on the same quarter last year.
Wollongong Hospital's emergency department treated 62 per cent of patients of time (up 1.6 per cent), while at Shellharbour Hospital the figure was 60.9 per cent, up a massive 10.6 per cent.
While there have been some big improvements in surgical waiting times, people waiting for non-urgent surgery at Shoalhaven Hospital are still having to wait close to a year.
The 335 day average waiting time for non-urgent surgery is 127 days less than the same time last year.
The wait for urgent surgery was unchanged at 15 days, with the average time waiting for semi-urgent surgery at Shoalhaven Hospital was 50 days - a 23 day reduction in the past year.
The wait for semi-urgent surgery was one of the best among the 20 major hospitals, while the waiting time for non-urgent surgery was among the worst.
Health Minister Ryan Park said Illawarra and South Coast public hospitals were showing signs of improvement, in spite of the major pressures confronting the NSW health system.
He said the number of surgical patients waiting longer than clinically recommended had dropped from 14,067 to 9,142 from the March quarter to June quarter.
In the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District the figure dropped from 605 to 403.
The latest BHI data showed continuing high levels of demand for emergency care, including record NSW Ambulance activity.
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However the rates of T2 emergency patients starting treatment on time in the ISLHD improved from 35.4 to 44.8 per cent between the 2022 and 2023 June quarters, Mr Park said.
The data also showed record demand on ambulances with 357,491 responses across New South Wales, an increase of 23,564 compared to the same quarter last year.
However, statewide performance has remained steady with the same median transfer to care time of 16 minutes in the June quarters of 2022 and 2023.
In the ISLHD the figure improved from 24 to 21 minutes between the 2022 and 2023 June quarters.
"We are starting to see signs of improvement and recovery in hospitals across the Illawarra and the South Coast," Mr Park said.
"We won't undo 12 years of Liberal and National neglect of our local health system, and we have a long journey ahead, but these are encouraging signs.
"I want to thank our local health workforce and NSW Health who have persisted under challenging circumstances," he said.
