Page 2809 - Week 09 - Thursday, 26 August 1993
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MINISTER FOR HEALTH
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION
QUESTION NO. 838
Public Hospital Bed Numbers
Mrs Carnell - asked the Minister for Health:
1. How many public hospital beds at Woden Valley Hospital were there at (a) the end of May 1993 and May 1992; (b) the end of March 1993 and March 1992 and (c) the end of January 1993 and January 1992.
2. How many public hospital beds at Calvary Hospital were there at (a) the end of May 1993 and May 1992; (b) the end of March 1993 and March 1992 and (c) the end of January 1993 and January 1992.
3. What are the projected numbers of public hospital beds in each hospital for the end of June 1993 and end of December 1993.
Mr Berry - the answer to Mrs Carnells question is:
The concept that the physical number of available beds gives a true indication of a hospitals performance is a fallacy. This issue is of particular note since the Assembly Commitee on Bed Numbers, under the Labor Government, concluded that the counting and reporting of bed numbers does not reflect hospital performance. Instead, the Committee decided that a hospitals throughput better indicates performance.
These days our hospitals use beds much more efficiently than in the past. For example, same day inpatient activity has increased by 9.3% from 1991-92 to 1992-93. Further, the length of stay of patients has reduced from 5.5 days in 1990-91 to 5.08 days in 1992-93.
This improvement in efficiency can be further illustrated by the fact that, although the numbers of available beds has declined slightly over the reported periods (illustrated in the table below), the number of public hospital admissions in the ACT (1992-93) has increased by 5.35% over 1991-92. This involved increases in admissions at-Woden Valley and Calvary Public Hospitals of 4.76% and 9.43% respectively.
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