Sydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital

An ED presentation occurs following the arrival of the patient at the ED and commences at the point of being registered or triaged. Triage is the process during which a health professional assesses the urgency of the care needs, including assigning one of five urgency categories to the health record.

Explore the data

Explore the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital EDs in 2022–23 and for recent years in the data visualisation below.

Information is presented by the following patient characteristics:

• age and sex (as recorded in the data)
• Indigenous status
• the remoteness of the patient's residential address
• the socioeconomic status of the area that the patient lives in.

The data can also be explored by:

• state and territory
• hospital peer group
• local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
• hospital (where data is available).

Highlights

In 2022–23:

• there were 8.80 million presentations to emergency departments in Australia – a rate of 334 per 1,000 population
• most ED presentations were to Principal referral and women’s and children’s and Public acute group A hospitals (71%, combined).

Emergency presentations have increased over the last five years, from 8.35 million in 2018–19 to 8.80 million in 2022–23, representing an average annual increase of 1.3% per year. However the number of presentations fluctuated during the years that were affected by COVID, decreasing in 2019–20, increasing in 2020–21 and decreasing again 2021–22.

Presentations to Public acute group C hospitals have increased the most (3.9% per year since 2018–19).

Age and sex

• In 2022–23, while, overall, males accounted for 49% of all ED presentations and females accounted for 51%, there were differences across age groups. In age groups under 15 years, a higher proportion of presentations were for males, but for age groups between 15 to 44 years and 85 years and over, most presentations were for females. In the age groups between 45 and 84 years, presentations were more evenly split between males and females. 
• For both males and females, the highest rates of presentation per 1,000 population were for patients aged 85 or over – 941presentations per 1,000 population for males, and 764 per 1,000 population for females.
• The second highest presentation rates for both males and females were seen in  patients aged 4 and under – who presented at EDs at a rate of 707 per 1,000 population for males and 592 per 1,000 population for females. 
• While ED presentation rates were highest in the very young and very old age groups, 44% of all ED presentations were for people aged between 25 and 64. 

Indigenous status

• Overall, 8.4% of ED presentations were for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (who make up 3.8% of the Australian population).
• Across all age groups, the presentation rates per 1,000 population were greater for First Nations people compared to Other Australians. The largest difference was for people aged 40–44 where the presentation rate was 980 per 1,000 population for First Nations people and 256 per 1,000 population for Other Australians.  

Remoteness area of usual residence 

• People living in Major cities (who make up 72% of the Australian population), accounted for 62% of ED presentations – 294 presentations per 1,000 people. 
• People living in Remote and Very remote areas (who make up 1.9% of the population) accounted for 3.6% of presentations.
• Information on presentation rates should be interpreted with caution as the scope of the ED data collection is ‘formal’ EDs that meet specific criteria and may not be evenly accessible to people across all geographic areas. 

Socioeconomic status of area of usual residence

• People living in the lowest socioeconomic (most disadvantaged) areas were most likely to visit an ED, accounting for 24% of ED presentations (410 presentations per 1,000 people). This was followed by people who lived in areas classified as being in the second lowest socioeconomic position – who presented at a rate of 386 presentations per 1,000 population. 
• People living in the highest socioeconomic (least disadvantaged) areas were least likely to visit an ED. They accounted for 14% of all ED presentations (233 presentations per 1,000 people).

Emergency department (ED) waiting time is the time elapsed for each patient from presentation in the ED to commencement of clinical care.

A patient is considered to have been 'seen on time' when the time between arrival at the ED and the time that their clinical care starts is within the time specified in the definition of the triage category they are assigned:

• Resuscitation: Immediate (within seconds)
• Emergency: within 10 minutes
• Urgent: within 30 minutes
• Semi-urgent: within 60 minutes
• Non-urgent: within 120 minutes.

Explore the data

The data visualisation below presents the following emergency department waiting time statistics by triage category:

• proportion seen on time
• 50th percentile (median) waiting time (half of all people waited less than this time)
• 90th percentile waiting time (90% of people waited less than this time).

In addition to the national data, the data can also be explored for recent years by:

• state and territory
• hospital (where data is available)
• local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available).

Highlights

Over the last five years, the proportion of patients ‘seen on time’ has decreased and the time in which 90% of presentations were seen has increased.

In 2022–23: 

• the proportion of patients ‘seen on time’ was 65%, down from 67% in 2021–22 and from 71% in 2018–19
• Principal referral and Women’s and children’s hospitals and Public acute group A hospitals had the lowest overall proportion of presentations ‘seen on time’ (61%), and Other hospitals had the highest proportion (92%)
• 50% of patients were seen within 20 minutes, consistent with the previous year and higher than the preceding three years
• the time within which 90% of presentations were seen was 2 hours and 4 minutes, an increase from 1 hour and 40 minutes in 2018–19.

An emergency department (ED) stay is the period between a patient presenting at an ED, and when that person is recorded as having physically departed the ED (regardless of whether they were admitted, referred, discharged or left at their own risk).

Explore the data

The data visualisation below presents the following measures related to time spent in the emergency department:

• proportion of patients with a length of stay of 4 hours or less
• 50th percentile (median) time spent in the ED (half of all people waited less than this time)
• 90th percentile time spent in the ED (90% of people waited less than this time).

The data is presented by:

• state and territory
• admission status
• triage category
• peer group.

The data can also be explored by:

• trends over time
• local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
• hospital (where data is available).

Highlights

Nationally, over the last five years, the time in which 90% of presentations were completed has increased, and the proportion of presentations completed within 4 hours has decreased. 

In 2022–23:

• 50% of ED presentations were completed within 3 hours and 39 minutes, which is around 41 minutes longer than in 2018–19 (2 hours, 58 minutes)  
• the time in which 50% of patients completed their ED care was longer for patients who were subsequently admitted to the hospital (6 hours, 4 minutes) than for patients who were not admitted (3 hours, 4 minutes)
• 90% of ED presentations were completed within 10 hours and 32 minutes which is just over 3 hours longer than in 2018–19 (7 hours, 29 minutes)
• the time in which 90% of patients completed their ED care was longer for patients who were subsequently admitted to the hospital (18 hours, 23 minutes) than for patients who were not admitted (7 hours, 19 minutes)
• 56% of patients who presented to ED had their care completed within 4 hours compared to 61% in 2021–22 and 70% in 2018–19
• for patients subsequently admitted to the same hospital, one-third (31%) of ED presentations were completed within 4 hours
• for patients not subsequently admitted, two-thirds (66%) of ED presentations were completed within 4 hours
• 79% of ED presentations occurred between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Elective surgery waiting list activity is measured by the number of additions to and removals from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists, and the number of patients admitted for their awaited procedure.

Explore the data

This data visualisation below presents data for 2022–23 and recent years.

The data can also be explored:

• nationally, for additions to waiting lists and reason for removal
• by Local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
• by hospital (where data is available).

Highlights

Admissions from elective surgery waiting lists

In 2022–23:

• there were 735,500 admissions from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists – 99% of which were elective admissions for the intended procedure and 1% of which were emergency admissions because the patient’s condition deteriorated or for other reasons
• ofthe 735,500 admissions, 239,800 (33%) were Category 1, 278,600 (38%) were Category 2, and 217,100 (30%) were Category 3
• Principal referral and women’s and children’s hospitals and Public acute group A hospitals accounted for approximately three‑quarters of all admissions from elective surgery waiting lists (40% and 34%, respectively)
• 4.4% of admissions from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists were for First Nations people, who represent 3.8% of the Australian population.

In 2022–23, admissions from elective surgery waiting lists increased by 18% compared with 2021–22, likely due to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and limitations on hospital services during the previous period. In comparison, in the last three years, there was a 17% decrease in admissions in 2021–22, a 9.6% increase in 2020–21 and a 9.2% decrease in 2019–20. In the years preceding this period, the number of admissions increased annually on average by 2.1% from 2014–15 to 2018–19. 

The change in the number of elective surgery admissions, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, was not uniform across Australia. In the ACT, admissions decreased by 9.9%, while admissions increased in Victoria by 29%.

Additions to elective surgery waiting lists

In 2022–23, 855,500 patients were added to elective surgery waiting lists in Australia – a 9.2% increase from the number of patients added in 2021–22. However, it should be noted that:

• the number of patients added in 2018–19, which was prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, was 893,000
• in the 5 years prior to 2018–19, the number of additions to elective surgery waiting lists increased, on average, by 2.5% each year. 

Removals from elective surgery waiting lists

In 2022–23:

• 888,400 patients were removed from public hospital elective surgery waiting lists – an increase of 17% compared with 2021–22
• most patients removed from waiting lists (83%) were admitted for their intended procedure
• 17% were removed from waiting lists for other reasons (for example, the surgery was no longer required, they were treated elsewhere, transferred to another hospital’s waiting list, were unable to be contacted, or died).

The 17% increase in removals in 2022–23 followed a 16% decrease in 2021–22, a 11% increase in 2020–21 and an 8.0% decrease in removals in 2019–20. This fluctuating pattern in recent years is likely due to restrictions and limitations in services that were able to be provided in response to COVID-19 outbreaks at different periods. In the years before COVID-19, the total number of removals from waiting lists increased on average by 2.3% each year between 2014–15 and 2018–19.

Between 2021–22 and 2022–23, there was an 18% decrease in patient removals due to being transferred to another hospital’s waiting list; and in the year prior, it decreased by 12%. In comparison, between 2019–20 and 2020–21 there was an increase of 40%; and in the year prior, it increased by 20%. The increase in these previous two years were possibly due, in part, to management of waiting lists during COVID-19.  

The surgical speciality describes the area of clinical expertise held by the doctor scheduled to perform the elective surgery. This section presents information on the type of elective surgery provided, by surgical speciality, in 2022–23 and changes over recent years.

Information on 11 categories of surgical speciality is presented. The ‘other’ category contains data for surgeons whose speciality was not one of the 11 specified categories.

Explore the data

This data visualisation below presents data for 2022–23 and recent years.

The data can be explored:

• nationally or by state/territory, by surgical speciality
• by Local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
• by hospital (where data is available).

The overall impact of the COVID–19 pandemic in recent years should be considered when interpreting this data.

Highlights

In 2022–23, of the 735,500 admissions from elective surgery waiting lists:

• 20% were for General surgery (on abdominal organs, including endocrine surgery and breast surgery), which was the most common surgical specialty resulting in an admission from a waiting list
• 15% were for Urological surgery (on organs of the urinary system such as bladder, urethra, and kidneys) and 14% were for Ophthalmology surgery (on eyes and optic nerves).

Changes over time

• Between 2021–22 and 2022–23, overall admissions from elective surgery waiting lists increased by 18%, whereas between 2018–19 and 2022–23, it decreased annually by 0.8%.
• Between 2021–22 and 2022–23, Otolaryngology, head, and neck surgery and Ophthalmology surgery had the largest increase in admissions 27% and 25% respectively. This was not consistent with changes between 2018–19 and 2022–23; in that period, Otolaryngology, head, and neck surgery decreased annually by 1.9%, while Ophthalmology surgery slightly increased annually by 0.5%.
• Between 2021–22 and 2022–23, Vascular surgery and Urological surgery had the smallest increase in admissions by 10.7% and 11.1% respectively, while between 2018–19 and 2022–23, these both decreased annually by 1.4% and 0.4% respectively. 

In general, admissions from elective surgery waiting lists decreased in 2019–20, increased in 2020–21, decreased in 2021–22 and then increased again in 2021–22. This pattern was evident across all surgical specialties, except for cardiothoracic surgery which had decreased in 2020–21.

The intended surgical procedure describes the type of surgery for which a patient has been placed on a public hospital elective surgery waiting list. In some instances, the intended procedure may not reflect what was actually performed during the hospitalisation.

Explore the data

In the data visualisations below, you can explore data about admissions from elective surgery waiting lists for 15 selected intended procedures and ‘other’ procedures for 2022–23 and recent years by:

• state/territory
• Local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
• Hospital (where data is available).

The 15 intended procedures selected were previously known as indicator procedures, chosen due to their typically high volume of admissions and long wait times.

Highlights

In 2022–23:

• the 15 selected intended procedures accounted for 34% of admissions from elective surgery waiting lists
• Cataract extraction was the most common selected intended surgical procedure with 75,500 patients admitted, followed by Cystoscopy with 55,200 patients admitted. 

Changes over time

Admissions for all selected intended procedures increased between 2022–23 compared with 2021–22, likely due to the easing of elective surgery restrictions, bringing the delivery of health care services closer towards pre-pandemic levels. 

The three procedures with the greatest increase in admissions between 2022–22 and 2022–23 were: Septoplasty (which increased by 47%), Total knee replacement (42%) and Haemorrhoidectomy (41%). However, over the long-term, between 2018–19 and 2022–23, admissions for most indicator procedures decreased. The greatest decreases in annual admissions were for Varicose veins treatment (which decreased on average by 9.0%), Myringotomy (8.1%) and Tonsillectomy (6.2%).

Waiting times data provides information about the length of time waited by patients on public hospital elective surgery waiting lists before being admitted for surgery.

Explore the data

In the data visualisation below, you can explore waiting times for elective surgery by hospital peer group and clinical urgency category of the surgery for 2022–23 and other recent years.

The data can also be explored by:

• hospital (where data is available)
• local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available).

Highlights

In 2022–23:

• the overall time within which 50% of patients were admitted (the median waiting time) was 49 days, and the time within which 90% of patients were admitted was 361 days
• 9.6% of patients waited more than 365 days for their surgery
• the 50th percentile (median) waiting time for patients admitted from waiting lists to Principal referral and Women’s and children’s hospitals (37 days) was shorter than for smaller hospitals categorised as Public acute group A hospitals and Public acute group B hospitals (54 days and 66 days, respectively).

Changes over time

Between 2021–22 and 2022–23, waiting times (measured at the 50^th and 90^th percentiles) increased across most states/territories. The exceptions were:  waiting times in Tasmania decreased on both measures (50^th and 90^th percentile waiting times), South Australia decreased in respect of the 90^th percentile waiting time, and the waiting time in the Northern Territory decreased in respect of the 50^th percentile wait time.  

50th percentile (median) waiting time

Between 2021–22 and 2022–23, the 50th percentile waiting time:

• increased overall from 40 days to 49 days
• increased for all public hospital peer groups. 

Between 2018–19 and 2022–23, the 50th percentile waiting time:

• increased from 41 days to 49 days
• increased for all public hospital peer groups by over 10 days, except Principal referral and Women’s and children’s hospitals, which slightly increased by 2 days.

90th percentile waiting time

Between 2021–22 and 2022–23, the 90th percentile waiting time:

• increased overall from 323 days to 361 days 
• increased for all public hospital peer groups.

 Between 2018–19 and 2022–23, the 90th percentile waiting time:

• increased overall from 279 days to 361 days
• increased for all public hospital peer groups. 

Patients who waited more than 365 days 

Between 2021–22 and 2022–23, the proportion of patients who waited more than 365 days to be admitted increased from 6.3% to 9.6%. Prior to 2021–22, this proportion increased from 2.1% in 2018–19 to 7.6% in 2020–21.

Waiting times by clinical urgency category

When a patient is placed on a public hospital elective surgery waiting list, a clinical assessment is made to determine the urgency with which they require elective surgery (the clinically recommended time). The proportion of patients seen within the recommended time is the percentage of patients who were admitted for surgery within the clinically recommended time as defined by their clinical urgency category.

The ‘overdue wait’ is the amount of time spent waiting while overdue—that is, after 30, 90, or 365 days for clinical urgency categories 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The average overdue wait time (in days) is calculated for patients who were still waiting for their elective surgery as at 30 June 2022, who were ready for care, and who had waited beyond the recommended time.

Due to the lack of comparability of clinical urgency categories between states and territories, these data are presented for each state and territory separately.

In 2022–23, the proportion of patients admitted within the clinically recommended time was:

• for New South Wales; 77%
• for Victoria; 75% 
• for Queensland; 78%
• for Western Australia; 76%
• for South Australia; 74%
• for Tasmania; 62%
• for the Australian Capital Territory; 69%
• for the Northern Territory; 68%.

 In 2022–23, the average overdue wait time was:

• for New South Wales; 114 days
• for Victoria; 260 days
• for Queensland; 97 days
• for Western Australia; 147 days
• for South Australia; 112 days
• for Tasmania; 253 days
• for the Australian Capital Territory; 144 days
• for the Northern Territory; 391 days.

The surgical speciality describes the area of clinical expertise held by the doctor performing the elective surgery.

Explore the data

In the data visualisation below, you can explore elective surgery waiting times by surgical speciality for 2022–23 and for other recent years by:

• area of surgical specialty
• state and territory
• local hospital network (LHN) (where data is available)
• hospital (where data is available).

Highlights

In 2022–23:

• the surgical speciality with the highest median waiting time (50^th percentile) was Ophthalmology (105 days)
• the surgical specialty with the highest 90^th percentile waiting time was Otolaryngology, head and neck surgery (507 days)
• the surgical speciality with the lowest median and 90th percentile waiting time was Cardiothoracic surgery (20 days and 108 days, respectively)
• the surgical specialities that had the highest proportions of patients who waited more than 365 days to be admitted were Otolaryngology, head and neck surgery and Orthopaedic surgery (21% and 18%, respectively).

Changes over time

Between 2018–19 and 2022–23:

• the median waiting time increased for 11 out of the 12 surgical specialties, excluding Plastic and reconstructive surgery which decreased by 1 day from 26 days in 2021–22 to 25 days in 2022–23
• the 90^th percentile waiting time increased for all 12 surgical specialties, with Otolaryngology, head and neck surgery having the largest increase of 150 days from 357 days in 2018–19 to 507 days in 2022–23.
• Neurosurgery median waiting times increased from 38 days to 45 days.

Waiting list statistics for intended surgical procedures can indicate performance in particular areas of elective surgery. Information on the types of elective surgery provided by public hospitals is shown by the intended surgical procedure, for selected procedures only.

A range of restrictions and disruptions to elective surgeries occurred as a result of COVID-19 which has impacted elective surgery waiting times across most procedures from 2019–20 onwards. Prior to this, between 2016–17 and 2019–20, median waiting times for elective surgeries tended to remain relatively stable across most procedures.

Explore the data

In the data visualisations below, you can explore elective surgery waiting times for 2022–23 and other recent years by:

• a list of 15 selected intended procedures (also previously known as indicator procedures)
• state and territory
• local hospital network (LHN), and hospital level (for all intended procedures).

Highlights

In 2022–23, for the 15 selected intended (indicator) procedures:

• Coronary artery bypass graft had the shortest median and 90^th percentile waiting times with 19 and 103 days respectively, and <1% of patients waited more than 365 days to receive this type of surgery. 
• Septoplasty had the highest median and 90^th percentile waiting time with 365 and 666 days respectively. 

In 2022–23, for the top 25 intended procedures:

• Curettage and evacuation of uterus had the shortest median and 90^th percentile waiting time with 4 and 53 days respectively. The proportion of patients waiting more than 365 days to receive this elective surgery of <1%. 
• Septoplasty had the highest median and 90^th percentile waiting time with 365 and 666 days respectively.

Changes over time

Between 2018–19 and 2022–23, for the 15 selected intended (indicator) procedures:

• Coronary artery bypass graft surgery consistently had the lowest waiting times across all of the waiting time measures
• Septoplasty consistently had the highest median waiting times and Myringoplasty/Tympanoplasty consistently had the highest 90^th percentile waiting time except for 2020–21 and 2022–23 when waiting times for Septoplasty were 500 and 666 days
• Septoplasty had the largest increase in median and 90^th percentile waiting time with 124 and 292 days, respectively from 241 and 374 days in 2018–19 to 365 and 666 days in 2022–23 
• Coronary artery bypass graft surgery and Cytoscopy had the lowest increase in median waiting times of just 2 days, respectively from 17 and 24 days in 2018–19 to 19 and 26 days in 2022–23
• Coronary artery bypass graft surgery had the lowest increase in 90^th percentile waiting times of 28 days from 75 days in 2018–19 to 103 days in 2022–23.

Hospitals account for a large share of the funds Australia spends on the health sector each year. One way to assess hospital efficiency is to see how much money each hospital uses in comparison to its peers to provide specific treatments or procedures.

Making comparisons is difficult, as some hospitals may use more resources to treat patients with the same diagnosis because the patients they treat are sicker and have more complex care requirements. Therefore, it is important to adjust for these differences before comparing the cost of care between hospitals.

To assist in the comparing the cost of care between hospitals, the former National Health Performance Authority developed cost per national weighted activity unit (NWAU). Cost per NWAU adjusts for the factors that increase hospital costs to allow comparison. The measure provides an indicator of relative efficiency across more than 80 of Australia’s largest public hospitals.

Explore the data

In the visualisation below you can explore information on the cost per NWAU, total national weighted activity unit, and percentage of private patients over the three-year period from 2012–13 to 2014–15 by hospital in each state and territory.

Highlights

In 2014–15:

• some public hospitals spent almost twice as much as others to provide similar services to similar types of acute admitted patients
• the average cost of care (cost per NWAU) ranged from $3,300 at one hospital to $6,400 at another.

Between 2012–13 and 2014–15:

• the average cost of delivering care in major public hospitals decreased by 1%, after adjusting for inflation
• there was a 6% increase in hospital activity but hospital spending only rose by 5%, suggesting that as a group, major public hospitals have improved in their efficiency – delivering care for less cost.

Watch an animated explanation of how hospitals’ average cost of care is measured.

Various types of care are provided to admitted patients. The care type describes the overall nature of a clinical service provided to an admitted patient during an episode of care. This is not the same as the diagnosis or condition that a person might attend hospital for. A single type of care can be used to manage many different conditions. Care type can be classified as:

• Acute care
• Newborn care
• Subacute and non-acute care—Rehabilitation care, Palliative care, Geriatric evaluation and management, Maintenance care and Psychogeriatric care
• Mental health care.

Refer to ‘More information about the data’ section below for definitions on the above care types.

Explore the data

In the data visualisation below, you can explore the number of hospitalisations by care type for public and private hospitals between 2018–19 and 2022–23, and by hospital, between 2013–14 to 2022–23.

Highlights

In 2022–23, for the public and private sectors combined:

• 91% of hospitalisations were classified as episodes of Acute care
• 3.7% were classified as episodes of Rehabilitation care
• 2.9% were classified as episodes of Mental health care
• 0.5% were classified as episodes of Newborn care (this only refers to situations where the newborn requires specific care – not all births).

The proportions of hospitalisations for each care type varied by hospital sector. Public hospitals accounted for 60% of hospitalisations for Acute care, while private hospitals accounted for 80% of hospitalisations for Rehabilitation care.

Changes over time

Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average increase in Acute care hospitalisations by 1.0% in public hospitals and 2.4% in private hospitals.

Acute care

In 2022–23:

• around 9 in 10 hospitalisations in public (94%) and private hospitals (88%) were for Acute care
• the most common principal diagnosis reported for overnight acute hospitalisations was Single spontaneous delivery (childbirth with minimal or no assistance; 2.8% of hospitalisations)
• almost 1 in 4 (23%) of same-day acute hospitalisations had a principal diagnosis of Care involving dialysis.

Changes over time

• Compared with 2021–22, in 2022–23, the number of Acute care hospitalisations increased by 4.4% for public hospitals and by 4.5% for private hospitals.
• Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average increase in Acute care hospitalisations by 1.0% in public hospitals and 2.4% in private hospitals.

Newborn care

Newborns receiving care may have both ‘qualified’ (where the baby requires specialised care) and ‘unqualified’ days (where routine care is provided as part of the care for the mother). Refer to ‘More information about the data’ section below for definitions on qualified and unqualified care.

In 2022–23:

• there were 82,100 hospitalisations for newborn care with at least one qualified day—the majority of these (86%) occurred in public hospitals
• nearly 1 in 4 hospitalisations for newborn care had a principal diagnosis of Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified (23% of hospitalisations for qualified newborns) followed by Medical observation and evaluation for suspected diseases and conditions, ruled out (14% of hospitalisations for qualified newborns)
• almost all (95%) hospitalisations for newborn care were Discharged home and less than 0.26% Died.

Changes over time

Compared with 2021–22, in 2022–23:

• hospitalisations for qualified newborns increased by 1.5% in public hospitals, and decreased in private hospitals by 5.7%
• for unqualified newborns, hospitalisations decreased by 8.1% in public hospitals and decreased by 7.4% in private hospitals.

Compared with 2018–19, in 2022–23:

• hospitalisations for qualified newborns increased by an annual average of 2.8% (from 63,000 to 70,400) in public hospitals and increased in private hospitals by 0.2% (11,600 to 11,700)
• for unqualified newborns, hospitalisations decreased by an annual average of 2.7% in public hospitals and increased by 2.3% in private hospitals.

Subacute and non-acute care

• In 2022–23, 1 in 20 hospitalisations (5.0%) were for Subacute and non-acute care
• over the previous year, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of hospitalisations for Subacute and non-acute care increased by 2.8% in public hospitals and increased by 15.5% in private hospitals
• over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average increase of 1.5% for Subacute and non-acute care hospitalisations in public hospitals and an annual average decrease of 1.0% in private hospitals.

Rehabilitation care

In 2022–23:

• there were around 449,000 Rehabilitation care hospitalisations, with 4 in 5 (80%) occurring in private hospitals
• New South Wales and Queensland combined accounted for 4 in 5 (81%) Rehabilitation care hospitalisations – 59% in New South Wales and 22% in Queensland.

Changes over time

• Over the previous year, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of Rehabilitation care hospitalisations increased by 21.4% in public hospitals and 16.5% in private hospitals.
• Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average decrease of 1.3% for Rehabilitation care hospitalisations in public hospitals and an annual average decrease of 1.2 % in private hospitals.

Palliative care

In 2022–23:

• nearly 9 in 10 (86%) of the 54,100 Palliative care hospitalisations occurred in public hospitals
• 1 in 2 (48%) hospitalisations for Palliative care had a neoplasm-related (cancer-related) principal diagnosis, with Malignant neoplasm of bronchus and lung accounting for 7.4% of Palliative care hospitalisations.

Mental health care

In 2022–23:

• over 3 in 5 (62%) of the 354,000 Mental health care hospitalisations occurred in private hospitals
• females (as identified in the data) accounted for 59% of all Mental health care hospitalisations.

Changes over time

• Over the previous year, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of Mental health care hospitalisations in public hospitals increased by 1.4% (from 134,000 to 136,000) and decreased by 0.3% in private hospitals (218,400 to 217,900). 
• Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average decrease of 1.6% (146,000 to 136,000) of Mental health care hospitalisations in public hospitals and an annual average increase of 0.4% (214,000 to 216,000) in private hospitals.

What is SABSI?

Staphylococcus aureus (also known as golden staph or S. aureus) is a usually harmless bacteria commonly found inside the nose and on the skin. However, if the bacteria enters the bloodstream a Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (SABSI) can occur.

Contracting SABSI can be life-threatening and hospitals aim to minimise cases by implementing infection prevention and control policies, including good hygiene practices. Surveillance and reporting of healthcare-associated SABSI rates in hospitals helps to improve patient safety.

Types of SABSI

The two types of SABSI reported on are:

• methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) – which can be treated with commonly used antibiotics, and
• methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which resists treatment by many types of antibiotics, and is associated with poorer patient outcomes.

Data on healthcare associated infections associated with hospital care are presented in the following data visualisation and summarised in the sections below. The data presented are for the latest year for which national data are available, and over time.

Hand hygiene refers to the washing of hands or use of alcohol-based rubs. Good hand hygiene is a first-line defence against viruses and infections, such as COVID-19, influenza and Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections. This is especially important for hospital patients whose immune systems may already be weakened due to existing health conditions, or medical treatment they are undergoing, such as surgery.

How is hand hygiene measured in hospitals?

Hand hygiene amongst healthcare workers in hospitals is continuously monitored through hand hygiene audits, and data are reported for three consecutive audit periods a year for participating hospitals as part of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI) coordinated by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC). In the last audit period (November 2022 to March 2023), data are reported here for 619 public hospitals, which is over 90% of the 680 public hospitals listed on the Australian Government Department of Health’s list of Commonwealth Declared Hospitals as at 31 October 2022.

There are certain times when the risk of healthcare workers transmitting disease in hospitals is greater. Known as hand hygiene ‘moments’, these are:

• before touching a patient (Moment 1)
• before a procedure (Moment 2)
• after a procedure or body fluid exposure risk (Moment 3)
• after touching a patient (Moment 4)
• after touching a patient’s surroundings (Moment 5).

Hand hygiene compliance rates are calculated by dividing the number of compliant hand hygiene moments by the number of moments observed by auditors. Since 2017 the national benchmark for hand hygiene compliance has been 80%.

Hand hygiene compliance for each audit period is reported here for public hospitals at national, and individual-hospital levels, as well as by hand-hygiene moment and healthcare-worker group. 

Hand hygiene in public hospitals 

The latest national-level data (from Audit period November 2022 to March 2023), show:

• the national hand hygiene compliance rate was 86% – above the 80% national benchmark
• hand hygiene for each of the 5 moments was also above the benchmark:
  1. before touching a patient: 83% 
  2. before a procedure: 91% 
  3. after a procedure or body fluid exposure risk: 93%
  4. after touching a patient: 89%
  5. after touching a patient’s surroundings: 81%
• the highest rates of hand hygiene were among:
  1. dental professionals, for example, dentists’ compliance was 94%
  2. nurses and midwives: 89%
• the following healthcare-worker groups did not meet the 80% benchmark: 
  1. doctors (medical practitioners): 76%
  2. ambulance workers: 69%
  3. domestic staff (for example, food services, cleaning and maintenance workers): 76%.

The ACSQHC (2023) reports that for Audit period 1 of 2023 the highest rates of compliance were in departments for:

1. dentistry: 93%
2. renal care: 90%
3. neonatal care, mental health care, ambulatory care, oncology/haematology, palliative care (89%).

Emergency department (78%) was the only department type that did not been the 80% benchmark.

Hand hygiene in your hospital

The interactive table in the data visualisation above presents data on hand hygiene by participating public hospitals from 2010 onwards – see 'Hospitals' tab.

Data downloads

Summary tables

See the Hospital Safety and Quality theme page for more data downloads for hand hygiene in public hospitals from 2010 onwards.

Length of stay is the number of days between admission to hospital, and when that episode of hospital care ends. The Average Length of Stay (ALOS) is calculated as the total number of patient days reported for the hospital (or group of hospitals), divided by the number of hospitalisations. 

Explore the data

In the data visualisation below, you can view the ALOS by selected medical procedures, by state and territory, and by type of hospital (peer group).

Highlights

In 2022–23:

• the ALOS for overnight hospitalisations in Australia was 5.7 days (6.0 days for public hospitals and 5.1 days for private hospitals)
• there were notable differences (more than 1 day) in the ALOS between public and private hospitals for 6 of the 20 selected diagnosis groups – the AR-DRGs (for example, the ALOS for Chronic obstructive airways disease, minor complexity was 2.9 days for public hospitals and 5.8 for private hospitals).

Between 2018­–19 and 2022–23,

• the overall ALOS for all hospitalisations remained stable at around 2.7 days
• the ALOS for overnight hospitalisations in public hospitals increased on average by 2.7% per year (5.3 to 5.8 days), and private hospitals increased on average by 2.7% (5.4 to 6.0 days).

Significant changes in ALOS over time may be related to changes in admission practices, changes in the types of treatments provided and clinical practices.

A specialised service unit is a facility or unit dedicated to the treatment or care of patients with specific conditions or characteristics, such as an intensive care unit.

A list of specialised service units and their descriptions can be found in the ‘More information about the data’ section below.

In 2022–23, the most common specialised service units in public hospitals were:

• Domiciliary care units (present in 337 public hospitals)
• Nursing home care units (present in 279 public hospitals)
• Maintenance renal dialysis centre (present in 221 public hospitals).

There were 87 Intensive care units (level III and above), and 31 Neonatal intensive care units (level III and above).

Explore the data

The data visualisation below provides a list of selected services provided by individual hospitals, including specialised care units, in 2022–23.

The information about services provided by a hospital is intended as a general guide only. There is the potential for some omissions or errors in this information and readers should contact a hospital directly for the latest advice on the services available.

A list of the types of specialised units is available in the ‘More information about the data’ section below.