HOSPITALS, NORTHERN SUBURBS

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:33): My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. This is a real question. What were the outcomes of a recent pilot designed to improve timely access to hospital based care in the northern suburbs of Adelaide?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (15:33): I thank the member for Florey for her question and I acknowledge her interest in health matters. Recently the Lyell McEwin Hospital trialled a different approach to how they manage their hospital to ensure greater throughput of patients through the hospital. Senior clinicians were invited to participate in this process and they suggested ways the hospital could operate more effectively and those suggestions were implemented as part of the trial. The trial also included recommendations of a recent report into the hospital's operations by the Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Stephen Christley.

While both hospitals are undergoing expansion works—the Lyell McEwin to provide an extra 96 beds and Modbury to nearly double the size of the emergency department—both hospitals are striving to meet the growing healthcare needs of the people living in the north. The initiatives covered all areas of the hospitals including pre-admission, the emergency departments, wards, support services and discharge. Initiatives included introducing an emergency department navigator role; extending the ED liaison nurses' hours until 9.30pm; extending the hours of support services such as pharmacy, imaging and radiology; increased use of Hospital at Home at weekends; event-led discharge; and prioritising bed cleans.

During this trial there were more available beds at both hospitals which reduced the wait for a bed for patients in the EDs and, before the pilot, the Lyell McEwin Hospital consistently reported a shortage of up to 27 beds in the morning. During the pilot, this trend was reversed and the beds were available at that time.

There was an increase in the percentage of patients seen, treated and admitted or discharged within four hours in the EDs and a decrease in the number of patients waiting extended periods for treatment. There were decreases in the use of agency nurses at the Lyell McEwin in medical imaging, reporting times, in the number of mental health patients with a length of stay greater than 24 hours in the EDs, in the average wait for bed cleans and in the average turnaround time for discharge prescriptions.

The CEO of the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network received many positive comments from staff across the two hospitals, so this was an extraordinarily useful trial. It cost about $108,000 to fund the initiatives, but they demonstrated that limited and carefully targeted investments and refocusing existing resources will improve patient care and reduce long-term costs of health care.

Further analysis of this trial is being undertaken with the intention of introducing successful initiatives as a permanent measure. The lessons for this trial will also be shared with other metropolitan hospitals. Another example where, with existing resources, we can get better outcomes and also reduce the cost of our services.