Victorian hospitals have maintained their performance in the face of record demand for their services said Health Minister David Davis as he released the latest Victorian Health Services Performance Report (on 23 December 2011).

"With a record 1.54 million patients admitted to hospital and 1.48 million people presenting to Victorian emergency departments, Victoria's health system has managed to maintain steady performance through to the September quarter," Mr Davis said.

Mr Davis said the Report showed Barwon Health's Geelong Hospital was performing well in a number of key performance areas.

Geelong's data shows:

   - 17,867 patients admitted to the hospital in the three months to the end
   of September, up from 17,237 a year earlier.
   - 14,829 emergency department visits in the three months to the end of
   September, up from 13,708 a year earlier.
   - 100 per cent of Category 1 emergency patients treated immediately on
   arrival at hospital.
   - 4,809 emergency department patients admitted to a hospital bed in the
   three months to the end of September - up from 4,474 a year earlier. 77
   per cent were admitted within eight hours - above the State-wide average
   of 68 per cent.
   - 4,582 ambulance attendances at the Geelong Hospital ED in the three
   months to the end of September - up from 4,173 a year earlier.
   - No patients waited in the ED for more than 24 hours - compared with 21 a
   year earlier.
   - 2,074 patients on the elective surgery waiting list at the end of
   September - 203 fewer than for the same time a year earlier.
   - A 14-day median time to treatment for urgent elective surgery patients -
   an improvement of two days on the same time a year earlier.

"This report shows the Victorian health system is improving performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from the previous September quarter, with more KPIs being met," Mr Davis said.

"Additionally the number of people waiting 24 hours or more in emergency departments has dropped from the previous September quarter."

Mr Davis said the Victorian Health Services Performance Report for the September 2011 Quarter was posted on the Department of Health website, with new data being provided online.

Mr Davis said the online reporting included a far wider range of information than was released under previous reporting formats and those old reports were only issued every six months.