ORANGE hospital’s emergency department has reached a new record, achieving 81.3 per cent of its targets to treat and admit or treat and discharge patients within four hours of presentation.
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Orange hospital’s emergency numbers have virtually doubled in the last year compared with the 2011/2012 statistics.
Head of the accident and emergency department, Dr Colin Dibble, said the hospital was proud of achieving the June figure considering the increase.
“It is usually very difficult to reach this kind of target,” he said.
“And we haven’t achieved this through the work of just the emergency department - it’s been a mindset change in the whole of the hospital.
“It has it has been a whole-of-hospital approach and every single link in the hospital chain is involved.”
Dr Dibble said he was also encouraged by recent statistics that show the message is getting across to people not to turn up to the accident and emergency department with minor ailments.
“And so we can continue to do the job we’ve been doing, we would ask that people continue to do that - to consult their general practitioner or pharmacist if they have something like vomiting and diarrhoea, for instance, instead of coming to the hospital,” he said.
Orange Health Service is also boasting it has reduced all triage levels of patient waiting and treatment times, despite it being the centre for trauma care in the Western Local Health District.
Orange Health Council vice-chair Richard Jane said the community-based board was delighted with Orange’s accident and emergency department performance for June.
“For this facility to reach this level despite a very large increase in emergency through put is a credit to all the staff in this hospital,” he said.
“As a community representative I am very proud of what has been achieved here and we want to share it with the community.”
Mr Jane said the Orange Health Council was privy to aspects of the recruiting process to attract the best staff to the hospital.
“I’ve seen it for myself that we are getting people interested in coming here from the United Kingdom, the United States and many other places,” he said.
“This hospital now has not only a wonderful reputation nationally, but also internationally.”
Nursing unit manager Meg O’Brien says achieving targets is a constant challenge.
“But for me it has always been about providing quality care in achieving these targets,” she said.
