Summary
Numbers of hospitals
In 2013-14, there were approximately 1,359 hospitals in Australia. There were 747 public hospitals, which accounted for about 65% of hospital beds (58,600). In 2013-14, there were 612 private hospitals, which accounted for about 35% of beds (31,000).
How diverse were public hospitals?
In 2013-14, the 747 public hospitals were very diverse in size and type of services they provided. They ranged from Principal referral hospitals to Outpatient hospitals, Early parenting centres and Psychiatric hospitals. The 29 Principal referral hospitals accounted for almost 2 million separations or 35% of all public hospital separations in 2013-14. There were 42 Outpatient hospitals, all in regional and remote areas, which provided a range of non-admitted patient services.
What services were provided?
Public hospitals provide a range of services for admitted and non-admitted patients, including emergency services.
In 2013-14, the most common specialised services offered by public hospitals were domiciliary care, followed by nursing home care. There were 82 intensive care units (level III), and 30 neonatal intensive care units (level III).
The most common service related group in public hospitals was Renal dialysis with almost 1.1 million separations, followed by General Medicine (424,000). In the private sector, Diagnostic gastrointestinal and Orthopaedics were the most common service related groups.
How were hospitals funded?
Between 2008-09 and 2012-13, funding for public hospitals increased by 4.3% on average each year (after adjusting for inflation). Between 2008-09 and 2012-13, funding for private hospitals increased by 4.3% on average each year.
How much did hospitals spend?
Recurrent expenditure was more than $44 billion for public hospitals in 2013-14. Between 2009-10 and 2013-14, recurrent expenditure by public hospitals increased by 4.4% on average each year (after adjusting for inflation). Recurrent expenditure for private hospitals was more than $11 billion in 2013-14.
How much revenue did hospitals receive?
Between 2009-10 and 2013-14, public hospital revenue increased by an average of 10.6% per year (adjusted for inflation)-from $3.8 billion to $5.6 billion.
How many people were employed in public hospitals?
Nationally, public hospitals employed more than 287,000 full-time equivalent staff in 2013-14. More than 130,000 Nurses accounted for 45% of public hospital staff, while more than 37,000 Salaried medical officers represented about 13% of the public hospital labour force. Between 2009-10 and 2013-14, the average salary for public hospital staff increased by an average of 3.4% each year.