The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report released on April 29 shows an increase of 378 beds since the Federal Government’s $20 billion health injection in 2008.

 

The report also finds the demand for hospital services continues to grow with the number of elective surgery operations in the public system increasing by 2.4 per cent and the number of presentations at public hospital emergency departments increasing by 3.1 per cent in the last year.

 

There were 1.9 million admissions for planned (elective) surgery in 2009–10. The rate of elective surgery in public hospitals remained steady at about 30 admissions per 1,000 people each year between 2005–06 and 2009–10. Rates for elective surgery in private hospitals increased from about 49 per 1,000 to 55 per 1,000 over that time.

 

The recent increase brings the total number of elective surgeries per year to 600,000 in the public health system.

Additionally, the Australian hospital statistics 2009-10, shows hospital admissions increased from 8.1 million to 8.5 million between 2008-09 and 2009-10, with proportionally more growth in private hospitals than public hospitals.

 

There were 7.4 million accident and emergency services provided in public hospitals in 2009-10 compared with 7.2 million the previous year. Overall, 70% of patients were seen within the recommended time for their triage category, including 100% of patients requiring treatment immediately.

 

Public hospitals spent about $33.7 billion in 2009-10. Adjusted for inflation, public hospital spending increased by an average of 5.4% each year between 2005-06 and 2009-10.

 

The full reports can be found here:

 

http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=10737418863&libID=10737418862

 

http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=10737418683&libID=10737418682