17 January 2018
Health Sector Workers Network
No address available
Dear Health Sector Workers Network
Official Information Act request
Thank you for your request for information dated 7 December 2017, made under
section 12 of the Official Information Act 1982.
1. What are the percentages of patients presenting to the Emergency
Departments that were admitted, discharged or transferred within six
hours of presentation for each month of the year July 2016 to June
2017?
Facility
Beyond 6 hours Within 6 hours
Taumarunui
3.83%
96.17%
Te Kuiti
3.57%
96.43%
Thames
6.19%
93.81%
Tokoroa
2.53%
97.47%
Waikato
15.26%
84.74%
Grand Total
11.75%
88.25%
2. Please provide any DHB policy concerning guidelines and use of the ED
observation unit? By “ED observation unit”, we are referring to the
usage defined by the Ministry Of Health in the paper Streaming and the
use of Emergency Department Observation Units and Inpatient
Assessment Units.
Please see attached separately, Kids Emergency Short Stay Unit admissions
and processes guideline document and Short Stay Unit Admissions guideline
responsibilities and authorisation document.
3. What percentage of total ED presentations for each month of the year
July 2016 to June 2017 utilised the ED Observation unit?
Facility
Not observed
Observed
Taumarunui
99.95%
0.05%
Te Kuiti
100.00%
0.00%
Thames
84.44%
15.56%
Tokoroa
99.91%
0.09%
Waikato
73.65%
26.35%
Grand Total
79.90%
20.10%
4. What percentage of patients utilising the ED observation unit were
discharged home from this location for each month of the year July
2016 to June 2017?
Facility
Discharged home Not discharged home
Taumarunui
33.33%
66.67%
Thames
69.87%
30.13%
Tokoroa
90.91%
9.09%
Waikato
77.16%
22.84%
Grand Total
76.32%
23.68%
5. What is your DHB’s expected length of stay for the patients utilising the
ED observation unit?
The unit is intended for the management of stable patients who have an
expected length of stay greater than 6 but less than 24 hours. There is an
expectation that any patient admitted to the ED SSU overnight will be able to
be discharged the next morning. This also adheres to the ministry’s latest
guidelines.
6.
What percentage of patients for each month of the year July 2016 to
June 2017 exceeding the length of stay given in question 5?
Observed Length Of Stay Target (<24hrs)
Facility
Achieved Breached
Taumarunui
100.0%
0.0%
Thames
99.6%
0.4%
Tokoroa
100.0%
0.0%
Waikato
99.1%
0.9%
Grand Total
99.2%
0.8%
We trust this answers your questions.
Yours sincerely
Marc ter Beek
Executive Director Operations and Performance
Waikato District Health Board
