Cut in surgery list

THE number of people waiting for elective surgery at Dandenong Hospital has dropped in the past 12 months, according to the State Government’s Your Hospitals report.
The hospital reduced the number of waiting patients from 3534 at the end of June 2004 to 2875 at the end of June this year 659 less patients. And the drop was more than the overall reduction for the state. Across Victoria, waiting lists dropped from 42,112 last year, to 41,788 in 2005 a difference of 324.
Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said Dandenong Hospital also recorded a reduction in instances of hospital bypass by ambulances.
The hospital treated 100 per cent of category one emergency patients immediately on arrival, and reduced hospital bypass to just 0.6 per cent for the six months to June, down from three per cent for the same period in 2004.
Ms Pike said the opening of the new intensive care unit at Dandenong, part of the $34 million stage two redevelopment, had helped Dandenong become a major emergency hospital.