Ambo stats ‘month ahead’: Early figures ‘self-serving’

By Michelle Herbison
STATE Government was “selective and self-serving” in its premature release of Geelong Hospital transfer figures this week, according to the opposition.
The Independent received information from Health Minister David Davis’ office this week stating Geelong Hospital’s patient transfer figures were above benchmark rates.
The Government’s figures for the three months to the end of March stated that 93 per cent of emergency patients at Geelong Hospital received transfer from ambulances to hospital care in less than 40 minutes.
The transfers figure was released about a month ahead of additional data on hospital services for the March quarter.
Health Minister David Davis said the latest information “shows the community of Geelong to receive excellent service from their ambulance and hospital”.
The Government’s Health Services Performance Report for the December 2011 quarter showed 64 per cent of emergency patients were treated within the benchmark time.
Patient transfer rates, at 92.9 per cent in December, were one of Geelong Hospital’s strongest figures in the report.
But shadow health minister Gavin Jennings said releasing the positive figures before the complete report failed to “tell the whole story”.
“They’re trying to hopefully just sneak out this information and not put it up on the website so you can’t do a cross-reference about how it’s sitting within the performance of the health sector more broadly,” he said.
“They’re getting people out of ambulances and into the emergency department pretty quickly but once they get there a major problem is their flow through the system.”
Health Department spokesperson Graeme Walker said information about Geelong Hospital’s performance in other areas was unavailable until the “lengthy document” was compiled.
“This information was available now so it was released,” he said.
The Government had “included a lot more indicators” in its reports than previous governments, Mr Walker said.
Ambulance Employees Australia’s Steve McGhie suspected the Government was “playing with figures”.
“The hospital is not keeping up with the demand and the volume of patients coming through the door.”
Mr McGhie was surprised at the Government’s claim of 93 per cent efficiency because Ambulance Victoria total transfer time figures released under Freedom of Information showed waits of about 14 hours a day.
Paramedics were “standing in line” for hours while they waited for hospital staff to take on patient responsibility, he said.
“The easy answer to it is if they put in more hospital beds and staff. We want paramedics freed up earlier so they can respond to the next emergency.”