Best care in district

In a snapshot for the Deniliquin Health Service, 78 per cent rated their care as ‘very good’ and 82 per cent said the care and treatment ‘definitely’ helped them.

The survey also shows that 97 per cent of respondents indicated their treatment started on time, with 85 per cent saying they spent four hours or less in ED.

Cluster manager Craig McColm said the results tally with the patient experience survey offered by the hospital.

But he said to get similar figures from an independent source was particularly worthy of celebration.

“The results tell us what we already knew about our great service and our incredible staff,” he said.

“We might not always get it right, but the results show us that we do most of the time.”

The BHI survey reflects the experiences of 242 patients who presented to the emergency department at Deniliquin Hospital from July 2021 to June 2022.

Mr McColm pointed out that this 12 month period included the Delta and Omicron waves of COVID-19, which presented significant challenges to health services across NSW, including increased demand, additional infection control measures and high numbers of staff furloughing.

“We acknowledge the outstanding efforts and commitment of our staff during this time, who worked to adapt our hospital services to ensure the ongoing provision of high-quality care for our community.

“Deniliquin Hospital scored higher than the New South Wales average in 31 of the 33 questions, with it rated the second highest hospital in its peer group, and one of the highest rated hospitals.”

A high proportion of patients (94 per cent) also said health professionals ‘always’ treated them with respect and dignity and 89 per cent said staff were ‘always’ kind and caring.

Additionally, 90 per cent of patients said they received ‘the right amount’ of information about their condition.

Deniliquin Hospital’s ED also scored highly in areas such as cleanliness, privacy and security.

Deniliquin Local Health Advisory Committee (LHAC) chair Lourene Liebenberg said the results "speak for themselves".

“First of all, our staff in ED are highly skilled professionals with and incredible work ethic and they work together cohesively and respectfully as a team.

“This is reflected in their care of patients presenting to ED. They genuinely care for our patients and only want the best health outcomes, always.

“We have an exceptional team, and these results should be encouraging to any new staff who want to come to join the team at Deniliquin Health Service.

"We believe the community needs to be celebrated as well and thanked for their support of our health services.

“Our community show insight into and understanding of the challenges the staff can face in the ED on any given day.

“They have grown an understanding of the triage system, as well as an understanding of what services they can realistically expect to receive in the ED.”