THE number of patients waiting for urgent surgery at John Hunter Hospital increased by more than 13 per cent following the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bureau of Health Information's latest Healthcare Quarterly report shows the number of patients waiting for semi-urgent surgeries at the end of the July to September quarter was up 17.4 per cent - the equivalent of 93 patients - compared to the same time last year. The total number of elective surgeries performed at the hospital was down 3 per cent to 2277.
There were 21,019 emergency department attendances at John Hunter Hospital during the July to September 2020 quarter, 1049 fewer presentations than in 2019.
The number of patients starting treatment on time increased by 6.5 percentage points. Other hospitals experienced similar drops in ED attendances, including Maitland Hospital with 7.4 percent, or 975 fewer patients.
At Belmont Hospital, patients waiting for urgent surgeries were up by more than 61 per cent - the equivalent of eight patients, the data shows. The number of people waiting for semi-urgent surgeries increased by 43 per cent (111 patients).
At Calvary Mater, patients waiting for urgent elective surgery rose by 24 per cent compared to the same period last year, and 21.7 per cent for semi-urgent surgeries.
Hunter New England Health chief executive Michael DiRienzo said staff had worked hard during the quarter to get the district back to where it was prior to COVID-19.
"This quarter came after the first wave of the pandemic, at a time where we were working hard to recommence elective surgery and transition safely back to a new normal," he said.
"Overall, the results are as expected, with a fall in emergency presentations and visits to our hospitals and a rise in people waiting for surgery as National Cabinet paused non-urgent surgery to respond to the pandemic.
"Our focus remains on ensuring that patients who had their surgery postponed due to COVID-19 receive their surgery as soon as possible and we are working with our private hospital partners to further boost our elective surgery capacity."
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