Hospital blames statistics

By Shaun Inguanzo
THE Angliss Hospital has labelled a belowtarget performance in a State Government report as a statistical error.
The latest Your Hospitals report highlights the performance by the hospital in several categories, including emergency department patients.
In a threetiered system, the Angliss reached its target for both the highest and lowest priority emergency patients, but dropped 12 per cent off an 80 per cent target for semiurgent patients being seen to in 10 minutes or less.
The Angliss saw 100 per cent of its most urgent patients immediately, 68 per cent of its semiurgent patients within 10 minutes, and 99 per cent of its least urgent emergency patients within 30 minutes.
Angliss Hospital general manager Penny Newsome said staff were happy overall with the report, but the statistics did not realistically reflect the efforts they had made.
“It is unlikely to be an accurate figure and likely to be a statistical error,” she said.
“The recording time could have been later than the real time.
“It is very unlikely for category two to be poorer than categories three and one.
“It is a statistical error rather than a performance problem.”
Ms Newsome said staff were efficient and professional in their service, something not highlighted in the Your Hospitals report.
“For every incident of every level, there is an enormous effort that goes into that, and the statistics do not tell the full story of the great work that goes on,” Ms Newsome said.