Admitted patient activity

The main measure of admitted patient activity is the number of hospitalisations (episodes of admitted patient care). As episodes can vary in length from ‘same-day’ to many days or weeks, another useful measure of activity is patient days. Patient days are the total number of days of care provided to patients – a measure of activity that accounts for variations in the length of stay.

Explore the data

In the visualisations below, you can explore information on hospitalisations and patient days for admitted patients between 2018–19 and 2022–23.

Highlights

Hospitalisations

In 2022–23: 

• hospitalisations increased by 4.6% compared with 2021–22 – from 11.6 million to 12.1 million
• hospitalisations in public acute hospitals increased by 4.3% (6.8 million to 7.1 million)
• the smallest increase was for private free-standing day hospitals (2.4%, 1.07 million to 1.1 million)
• overnight hospitalisations increased by 2.8% (4.3 million to 4.4 million) and same-day hospitalisations increased by 5.6% (7.3 million to 7.7 million).

Changes over time

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an upward trend in national hospital admissions, with an average annual increase of 3.3% from 2014–15 to 2018–19. The onset of the pandemic and the ensuing preventative measures resulted in a decrease in hospitalisations in 2019–20 and 2021–22 compared to the respective preceding years. However, in 2022–23, hospitalisations rebounded, showing a 4.6% increase from the previous year, rising from 11.6 million to 12.1 million.

Patient days

In 2022–23:

• public hospitals accounted for 69% of patient days of care (22.8 million)
• private hospitals accounted for 31% of patient days (10.4 million).

Compared with 2021–22, in 2022–23:

• the number of patient days increased by 4.5% – from 31.8 million to 33.2 million patient days
• patient days increased by 4.9% in public hospitals and 3.7% in private hospitals
• patient days per 1,000 population increased from 1,088 to 1,106.

Over the five years to 2022–23:

• the number of patient days increased by 1.8%, on average, each year – from 30.9 million to 33.2 million patient days
• patient days increased, on average, each year by 2.4% in public hospitals and 0.7% in private hospitals
• patient days per 1,000 population decreased on average, each year by 0.2% - from 1,116 to 1,106.

In 2022–23, 670 public hospitals in Australia provided admitted patient care services.

Hospitals are grouped by the type of service provided. In 2022–23:

• 31 Principal referral hospitals accounted for the highest proportion of public hospital hospitalisations (37%, 2.7 million hospitalisations) and public hospital patient days (37%, 8.5 million patient days)
• 63 Public acute group A hospitals accounted for a further 35% of hospitalisations and 33% of patient days
• 104 Very small hospitals accounted for less than 0.5% of both hospitalisations and patient days, with an average length of stay of 10.0 days which was much longer than the average length of stay in Principal referral hospitals (3.2 days)
• 34 Subacute and non-acute hospitals accounted for 0.8% of hospitalisations and 3.6% of patient days, with an average length of stay of 13.5 days.

Various types of care are provided to admitted patients. The care type describes the overall nature of a clinical service provided to an admitted patient during an episode of care. This is not the same as the diagnosis or condition that a person might attend hospital for. A single type of care can be used to manage many different conditions. Care type can be classified as:

• Acute care
• Newborn care
• Subacute and non-acute care—Rehabilitation care, Palliative care, Geriatric evaluation and management, Maintenance care and Psychogeriatric care
• Mental health care.

Refer to ‘More information about the data’ section below for definitions on the above care types.

Explore the data

In the data visualisation below, you can explore the number of hospitalisations by care type for public and private hospitals between 2018–19 and 2022–23, and by hospital, between 2013–14 to 2022–23.

Highlights

In 2022–23, for the public and private sectors combined:

• 91% of hospitalisations were classified as episodes of Acute care
• 3.7% were classified as episodes of Rehabilitation care
• 2.9% were classified as episodes of Mental health care
• 0.5% were classified as episodes of Newborn care (this only refers to situations where the newborn requires specific care – not all births).

The proportions of hospitalisations for each care type varied by hospital sector. Public hospitals accounted for 60% of hospitalisations for Acute care, while private hospitals accounted for 80% of hospitalisations for Rehabilitation care.

Changes over time

Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average increase in Acute care hospitalisations by 1.0% in public hospitals and 2.4% in private hospitals.

Acute care

In 2022–23:

• around 9 in 10 hospitalisations in public (94%) and private hospitals (88%) were for Acute care
• the most common principal diagnosis reported for overnight acute hospitalisations was Single spontaneous delivery (childbirth with minimal or no assistance; 2.8% of hospitalisations)
• almost 1 in 4 (23%) of same-day acute hospitalisations had a principal diagnosis of Care involving dialysis.

Changes over time

• Compared with 2021–22, in 2022–23, the number of Acute care hospitalisations increased by 4.4% for public hospitals and by 4.5% for private hospitals.
• Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average increase in Acute care hospitalisations by 1.0% in public hospitals and 2.4% in private hospitals.

Newborn care

Newborns receiving care may have both ‘qualified’ (where the baby requires specialised care) and ‘unqualified’ days (where routine care is provided as part of the care for the mother). Refer to ‘More information about the data’ section below for definitions on qualified and unqualified care.

In 2022–23:

• there were 82,100 hospitalisations for newborn care with at least one qualified day—the majority of these (86%) occurred in public hospitals
• nearly 1 in 4 hospitalisations for newborn care had a principal diagnosis of Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified (23% of hospitalisations for qualified newborns) followed by Medical observation and evaluation for suspected diseases and conditions, ruled out (14% of hospitalisations for qualified newborns)
• almost all (95%) hospitalisations for newborn care were Discharged home and less than 0.26% Died.

Changes over time

Compared with 2021–22, in 2022–23:

• hospitalisations for qualified newborns increased by 1.5% in public hospitals, and decreased in private hospitals by 5.7%
• for unqualified newborns, hospitalisations decreased by 8.1% in public hospitals and decreased by 7.4% in private hospitals.

Compared with 2018–19, in 2022–23:

• hospitalisations for qualified newborns increased by an annual average of 2.8% (from 63,000 to 70,400) in public hospitals and increased in private hospitals by 0.2% (11,600 to 11,700)
• for unqualified newborns, hospitalisations decreased by an annual average of 2.7% in public hospitals and increased by 2.3% in private hospitals.

Subacute and non-acute care

• In 2022–23, 1 in 20 hospitalisations (5.0%) were for Subacute and non-acute care
• over the previous year, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of hospitalisations for Subacute and non-acute care increased by 2.8% in public hospitals and increased by 15.5% in private hospitals
• over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average increase of 1.5% for Subacute and non-acute care hospitalisations in public hospitals and an annual average decrease of 1.0% in private hospitals.

Rehabilitation care

In 2022–23:

• there were around 449,000 Rehabilitation care hospitalisations, with 4 in 5 (80%) occurring in private hospitals
• New South Wales and Queensland combined accounted for 4 in 5 (81%) Rehabilitation care hospitalisations – 59% in New South Wales and 22% in Queensland.

Changes over time

• Over the previous year, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of Rehabilitation care hospitalisations increased by 21.4% in public hospitals and 16.5% in private hospitals.
• Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average decrease of 1.3% for Rehabilitation care hospitalisations in public hospitals and an annual average decrease of 1.2 % in private hospitals.

Palliative care

In 2022–23:

• nearly 9 in 10 (86%) of the 54,100 Palliative care hospitalisations occurred in public hospitals
• 1 in 2 (48%) hospitalisations for Palliative care had a neoplasm-related (cancer-related) principal diagnosis, with Malignant neoplasm of bronchus and lung accounting for 7.4% of Palliative care hospitalisations.

Mental health care

In 2022–23:

• over 3 in 5 (62%) of the 354,000 Mental health care hospitalisations occurred in private hospitals
• females (as identified in the data) accounted for 59% of all Mental health care hospitalisations.

Changes over time

• Over the previous year, from 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of Mental health care hospitalisations in public hospitals increased by 1.4% (from 134,000 to 136,000) and decreased by 0.3% in private hospitals (218,400 to 217,900). 
• Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23, there has been an annual average decrease of 1.6% (146,000 to 136,000) of Mental health care hospitalisations in public hospitals and an annual average increase of 0.4% (214,000 to 216,000) in private hospitals.

The principal diagnosis is the diagnosis established after study (for example, at the completion of the episode of care) to be chiefly responsible for causing the episode of admitted patient care. It is essentially the main reason someone needed to be admitted to hospital.

This section presents information on the numbers of hospitalisations by ICD-10-AM chapters, and the 20 most common detailed principal diagnoses (at the 3-character level) for public and private hospitals for 2022–23.

Highlights

• In 2022–23, over 1 in 4 (25%, 3.0 million) hospitalisations had a principal diagnosis of Factors influencing health status and contact with health services – which includes Care involving dialysis (around 1.7 million separations), radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

• The profile of principal diagnoses of patients tends to differ across public and private hospitals. For example, 86% of hospitalisations for Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period and 83% of hospitalisations for Certain infectious and parasitic diseases were provided in public hospitals. While private hospitals accounted for 74% of hospitalisations for Diseases of the eye and adnexa, and 70% of Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue.

• In 2022–23, almost 1 in 2 (46%) hospitalisations for First Nations people had a principal diagnosis of Factors influencing health status and contact with health services (for more information relating to hospitalisations for Indigenous Australians see the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework).
  

Most common principal diagnoses 

Same-day acute hospitalisations

In 2022–23:

• nearly 1 in 4 (23%, 1.7 million) same-day acute hospitalisations in both public and private hospitals were for Care involving dialysis, and over 1 in 3 (34%) same-day acute hospitalisations in public hospitals were for this diagnosis
• same-day acute hospitalisations for Pain in throat and chest (92%) and Care involving dialysis (80%) were most likely to be provided by public hospitals
• same-day acute hospitalisations for Procreative management (95%), Embedded and impacted teeth (94%), Other retinal disorders (89%), and Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (75%) were the most likely to be provided in private hospitals.

Overnight acute hospitalisations

In 2022–23:

• over 2 in 3 overnight acute hospitalisations were provided in public hospitals (2.8 million or 71%)
• the most common principal diagnosis reported for overnight acute hospitalisations was Single spontaneous delivery, which accounted for 3.3% of overnight acute separations in public hospitals and 1.7% in private hospitals
• public hospitals provided a majority of overnight acute hospitalisations for Emergency use of U07 (96%), Other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (90%) and Acute appendicitis (86%)
• private hospitals provided a majority of overnight acute hospitalisations for Gonarthrosis (arthrosis of the knee, 73%), Coxarthrosis (arthrosis of hip, 72%) and Sleep disorders (66%).

Changes over time

Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23:

• overnight acute hospitalisations with the principal diagnosis Pain in throat and chest decreased by 29%, from 64,300 cases to 45,500 cases
• overnight acute hospitalisations with the principal diagnosis Gonarthrosis [arthrosis of knee] and Coxarthrosis [arthrosis of hip] increased by 19% and 23%, respectively. This increase was largely due to a rise of cases in private hospitals of 11,400 (29%) and 7,900 (33%), respectively, whilst cases in public hospitals remained stable
• overnight acute hospitalisations with the principal diagnosis Sleep disorders and Pneumonia, organism unspecified decreased by 13,800 (19%) and 10,900 (18%) respectively.

Data on hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis are presented in the following visualisation and summarised in the sections below. It is presented by the demographic characteristics of patients, the types of comorbid chronic diseases that were treated as part of their in-hospital care, and the severity of illness patients experienced.

In 2022–23, there were 182,800 hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis and the average length of stay for these patients was 11 days.

Who received hospital care for a COVID-19 diagnosis?

In 2022–23:

• just under 1 in 10 (9.6%) hospitalisations for patients who had a COVID-19 diagnosis recorded were for patients between 0 and 24 years of age
• nearly 3 in 10 (29%) hospitalisations were for patients between 25 and 64 years of age
• almost 2 in 5 (42%) hospitalisations were for people 65 to 84 years of age and 20% were for people 85 years and above.

Where did patients with a COVID-19 diagnosis live?

There were more hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis for patients who lived in cities and in areas classified as being the most disadvantaged.

In 2022–23, of the 182,800 hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis:

• almost 9 in 10 hospitalisations (89%, or 162,000 hospitalisations) were for people living in Major cities and Inner regional areas combined
• around 2% of hospitalisations were for patients who usually lived in Remote or Very Remote areas
• nearly 1 in 4 (23%) hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis were for patients living in the most disadvantaged socioeconomic area
• 16% of hospitalisations were for patients living in the highest socioeconomic area
• 4.4% of hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis were for First Nations people.

Intensive care for hospitalisations involving COVID-19 diagnosis

Hospitalisations in which the person spent time in an Intensive care unit (ICU) and/or received continuous ventilatory support (CVS) are an indication that the patient required a higher level of acute care. During these hospitalisations, patients had at least one hour of ICU or CVS recorded, or a combination of both.

In 2022–23, of the 182,800 hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis:

• 3.5% of hospitalisations involved a stay in ICU, during which patients received a median of 67 hours (nearly three days) in ICU care
• 1.3% involved CVS
• 3.6% of all patients died in hospital.

Hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis with a comorbid chronic condition

Patients who receive care during their hospitalisation may receive treatment for one or multiple conditions. Patients hospitalised with a COVID-19 diagnosis may have received care for another chronic condition, which is recorded as a primary diagnosis or an additional diagnosis. For this analysis, these diagnoses are referred to as ‘comorbid chronic conditions’.

In 2022–23, of the 182,800 hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis:

• Under half (47%) of hospitalisations recorded no comorbid chronic conditions.
• 1 in 3 (33%) hospitalisations recorded one comorbid chronic condition.
• 1 in 5 (20%) hospitalisations recorded two or more chronic comorbid conditions.

In 2022–23, hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis for patients recorded with one or more comorbid chronic conditions were more likely to receive acute care in ICU and/or CVS.

Of the 37,300 hospitalisations with two or more recorded comorbid chronic conditions:

• 8.2% of hospitalisations involved time spent in ICU
• 3.0% involved CVS
• 8.8% died in hospital.

In comparison, hospitalisations involving no comorbid chronic conditions were less likely to involve time spent in ICU and/or CVS. Of the 86,000 hospitalisations with no recorded comorbid chronic conditions:

• 1.1% of hospitalisations involved time spent in ICU
• 0.4% involved CVS
• 1.0% died in hospital.

Patients who received treatment in ICU and/or CVS with a recorded comorbid condition

The most common comorbid conditions associated with COVID-19 hospitalisations were Cardiovascular disease (32%; 47,100) and Diabetes type 2 (26%; 37,800).

Of the 47,100 hospitalisations with a recorded comorbid diagnosis of Cardiovascular disease:

• 9.1% of hospitalisations involved time spent in ICU
• 3.7% involved CVS
• 7.3% died in hospital.

Of the 37,800 hospitalisations with a recorded comorbid diagnosis of type 2 diabetes:

• 4.7% of hospitalisations involved time spent in ICU
• 1.6% involved CVS
• 4.8% died in hospital.

Surgery and other interventions

Interventions include surgical procedures, non-surgical investigative procedures, and therapeutic interventions. They require specialised training and/or require special facilities or services available only in an acute care setting. Types of interventions include:

• surgical procedures – operating room procedures
• non-surgical investigative and therapeutic procedures – such as X-rays, diagnostic testing, and dialysis
• patient support interventions that are neither investigative nor therapeutic – such as general anaesthesia, physiotherapy, and other allied health interventions
• physiological assessments undertaken by doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals
• manufacture and fitting of devices, aids, or equipment
• psychological therapies and skills training.

How many interventions were provided to admitted patients?

In 2022–23:

• 26.8 million interventions were reported, with 14.0 million performed in public hospitals and 12.7 million in private hospitals
• 80% of hospitalisations in public hospitals and nearly all (96%) hospitalisations in private hospitals involved at least one intervention
• public hospitals accounted for nearly 9 out of 10 Radiation oncology procedures (88%) and 4 out of 5 Procedures on respiratory system (81%)
• private hospitals accounted for 4 out of 5 Dental services (80%) provided and Procedures on nervous system (80%).

From 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of interventions increased by 8.1%, from 24.8 million interventions in 2021–22 to 26.8 million interventions in 2022–23. This increase was higher for public hospital interventions, which rose by 10.1%, from 12.7 million interventions in 2021–22 to 14.0 million in 2022–23.

How many interventions were provided to patients receiving same-day acute care?

In 2022–23:

• 12.4 million interventions were reported for patients in same-day acute care hospitalisations.
• Cerebral anaesthesia (general anaesthesia and sedation, 2.8 million procedures), Haemodialysis (1.7 million) and Administration of pharmacotherapy (mostly chemotherapy, 1.1 million) accounted for almost half (45%) of all procedures.

From 2021–22 to 2022–23, the number of interventions reported for same-day acute separations increased by 7.6%, from 11.5 million up to 12.4 million interventions.

How many interventions were provided to patients receiving overnight acute care?

In 2022–23:

• 11.9 million interventions were reported for patients receiving overnight acute care hospitalisations
• around 3 in 4 (77%) of these hospitalisations in public hospitals involved at least one intervention, and in private hospitals, it was 9 in 10 (91%) hospitalisations
• 41% of interventions in public hospitals (3.3 million) were Generalised allied health interventions (for example, physiotherapy and other rehabilitation procedures).

From 2021–22 to 2022–23:

• the number of interventions reported for overnight acute separations increased by 8.2% from 11.0 million up to 11.9 million separations
• Arthroplasty of knee increased by 25.6% from 53,200 up to 66,800 overnight acute separations
• Non-invasive ventilatory support increased by 9.9% from 108,000 to 119,000 overnight acute separations.

How many surgical procedures were provided?

This section presents information on hospitalisations involving a surgical procedure undertaken in an operating theatre. In 2022–23:

• 3.0 million hospitalisations (or 25% of all hospitalisations) involved surgery, with 3 in 5 (59%) of these occurring in private hospitals
• hospitalisations involving surgery accounted for 17% of all hospitalisations in public hospitals and 36% of all hospitalisations in private hospitals
• there were 2.5 million elective admissions involving surgery and 68% of these occurred in private hospitals

• for public hospitals, 65% of surgical hospitalisations were elective admissions, 27% were emergency admissions, and 8% did not have an urgency status assigned
• for private hospitals, 94% of surgical hospitalisations were elective admissions, 3% were emergency admissions, and 3% did not have an urgency status assigned.

From 2021–22 to 2022–23, hospitalisations involving surgery increased by 7.7% from 2.8 million to 3.0 million.

Emergency hospitalisations involving surgery

In 2022–23:

• there were 381,000 emergency hospitalisations involving surgery (where hospitalisation was required within 24 hours). 87% of these occurred in public hospitals
• the most common principal diagnosis associated with these hospitalisations was Acute appendicitis (8%) and Fracture of femur (5%)
• Other debridement of skin and subcutaneous tissue was the most common surgical intervention (at the procedure block level) for emergency admissions involving surgery, and most (92%) of these were performed in public hospitals.

From 2021–22 to 2022–23, emergency hospitalisations involving surgery increased by 2%, from 373,000 up to 381,000.

Elective hospitalisations involving surgery

In 2022–23:

• there were 2.5 million elective hospitalisations involving surgery (where surgery did not need to be performed within 24 hours), with 7 in 10 (68%) of these occurring in private hospitals
• Other cataract surgery was the most common surgical intervention (at the procedure block level) for elective hospitalisations involving surgery with over 74% of these performed in private hospitals.

From 2021–22 to 2022–23, elective hospitalisations involving surgery increased by 9.1%, from 2.3 million to 2.5 million.

This section presents information on the number of hospitalisations with the principal diagnosis Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes for public and private hospitals in 2022–23.

Highlights

In 2022–23:

• about 1 in 15 (6.6%, 804,000) hospitalisations had a principal diagnosis of Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes—the majority (77%) were treated in public hospitals
• almost half (47%, or 379,000 hospitalisations) of all injury hospitalisations had a principal diagnosis of Injuries to upper and lower limbs, and 17% (136,000 hospitalisations) had a principal diagnosis of Complications of medical and surgical care
• 2 in 5 injury hospitalisations were for Falls (39%, 312,000 hospitalisations)
• the rate of hospitalisation due to injury for First Nations people is 51 per 1,000 population. The rate for other Australians is 28 per 1,000 population. For more information relating to hospitalisations for First Nations people, see the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework website.

Changes over time

There were 21,000 more hospitalisations due to Injury in 2022–23 (804,000) compared with 2021–22 (783,000). Five years ago, in 2018–19, there were 799,000 hospitalisations due to Injury. 

Intensive care is provided to patients who are critically unwell and require complex, multisystem life support such as mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal renal support and invasive cardiovascular monitoring. This section presents information on this care.

Public hospitals that have either an approved level 3 adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or an approved paediatric and/or Neonatal ICU report the number of hours spent in an ICU for each hospitalisation and the number of continuous hours of ventilatory support provided, either within ICU, or in another location such as an emergency department. 

Hospitalisations involving ICU

From 2021–22 to 2022–23:

• hospitalisations involving a stay in a level 3 ICU increased by 6.7% - from 142,000 to 151,000 hospitalisations
• the average duration of stay in level 3 ICU decreased from 87.0 hours to 85.3 hours
• hospitalisations involving ICU as a proportion of total hospitalisations increased from 12.2 hospitalisations involving a stay in level 3 ICU per 1,000 in 2021–22 to 12.5 in 2022–23.

Over the last five years, from 2018–19 to 2022–23:

• hospitalisations involving a stay in ICU has decreased by 19%, from 186,000 in 2018–19 to 151,000 in 2022–23
• hospitalisations involving ICU as a proportion of total hospitalisations also decreased, from 16.2 hospitalisations involving a stay in level 3 ICU per 1,000 in 2018–19 to 12.5 in 2022–23.

Hours in intensive care provided to admitted patients

In 2022–23, 12.9 million hours of care in level 3 ICUs were reported for 151,000 hospitalisations. In 2021–22, there were 12.3 million hours reported for 142,000 hospitalisations. This represents a 4.5% increase in hours.  

Public hospitals

In 2022–23: 

• for every 1,000 hospitalisations, 14.3 involved a stay in a level 3 ICU
• 93 hospitals provided ICU care in 102,000 hospitalisations – this care involved 10.6 million hours or 440,000 patient days of care
• the average duration of stay in ICU was 104 hours (4.3 days).

From 2021–22 to 2022–23:

• the duration of stay in ICU decreased by 2.0 hours, from 105.6 hours to 103.6 hours
• hospitalisations involving a stay in ICU increased by 6.1%, from 96,000 to 102,000.

Private hospitals

In 2022–23: 

• for every 1,000 hospitalisations, 9.9 involved a stay in a level 3 ICU
• ICU care was provided in 49,400 hospitalisations – 2.3 million hours and 97,700 patient days
• the average duration of stay in ICU was 47.4 hours per hospitalisation (1.9 days).

From 2021–22 to 2022–23:

• the duration of stay in ICU decreased by 0.6 hours, from 48.0 hours to 47.4 hours
• hospitalisations involving a stay in ICU increased by 7.9%, from 45,800 to 49,400.

Hours of continuous ventilatory support provided to admitted patients

Continuous ventilatory support (CVS) refers to the use of invasive ventilatory support or mechanical ventilation (a machine to assist breathing).

In 2022–23, 4.7 million hours of CVS were reported for 46,700 hospitalisations in Australian hospitals. Compared with 2021–22, this was 48,200 hours less of CVS but 1,000 more hospitalisations.

From 2018–19 to 2022–23:

• the total number of hours of CVS increased by 8.9%, from 4.3 million hours in 2018–19 to 4.7 million in 2022–23
• the average duration of CVS increased from 92 hours in 2018–19 to 101 hours in 2022–23.

Public hospitals

In 2022–23: 

• 4.4 million hours (181,000 patient days) of CVS was provided for 38,600 hospitalisations
• 5.4 hospitalisations per 1,000 involved CVS and the average duration of CVS was 113 hours per hospitalisation (4.7 days).

From 2021–22 to 2022–23:

• the average duration of CVS decreased by 6.8 hours (6%), from 119.6 hours to 112.8 hours
• the number of hospitalisations involving CVS increased by 1,800 (5%), from 36,800 to 38,600

Private hospitals

In 2022–23: 

• 353,000 hours (14,700 patient days) of CVS was provided in 8,100 hospitalisations
• for every 1,000 hospitalisations, 1.6 hospitalisations involved CVS and the average duration of CVS was 44 hours per hospitalisation (1.8 days).

From 2021–22 to 2022–23:

• hospitalisations involving CVS decreased by approximately 9%, from 8,900 to 8,100
• the proportion of separations that involved CVS decreased from 1.9 per 1000 separations to 1.6 per 1000 separations.

Overlap between ICU care and CVS

CVS is usually, but not always required with intensive care

In 2022–23:                              

• 151,000 hospitalisations reported a stay in an ICU and of these, 38,000 reported a period of CVS
• 1 in 3 (31%) hospitalisations in public hospitals reporting a stay in ICU also reported a period of CVS
• 14% of hospitalisations in private hospitals reporting a stay in ICU also reported a period of CVS
• of the hospitalisations that did not involve a stay in ICU, a period of CVS was reported for 8,300.

Hospitalisations with a COVID-19 diagnosis that included time spent in ICU or continuous ventilatory support

In 2022–23, of the 183,000 hospitalisations involving a COVID-19 diagnosis:

• 6,400, or 3.5% of these hospitalisations involved a stay in an ICU
• 2,300 or 1.3% of hospitalisations involved a period of continuous ventilatory support
• 6,500 or 3.6% died in hospital.

The nature of the services provided to an admitted patient during an episode of care can be described in several ways including by a broad category of service and by a diagnosis group. In Australia, the diagnosis group is the Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Group (AR-DRG).

Broad category of service

Hospitalisations are categorised into the following broad categories of service.

• Childbirth – includes all childbirth care such as caesarean delivery and vaginal delivery. Does not include newborn care.
• Mental health – includes mental health care for conditions such as dementia and depression.
• General intervention (Surgical) – includes surgical care such as knee replacement.
• Medical – includes care not involving surgical care such as haemodialysis.
• Specific intervention (Other) – includes care that is not Surgical or Medical such as endoscopy. 
• Subacute and non-acute care – includes rehabilitation, palliative, psychogeriatric, maintenance care or geriatric evaluation and management.

In 2022–23:

• of the 12.1 million hospitalisations, 54% of hospitalisations were for Medical care, 1 in 4 (24%) were for General intervention (Surgical) and 12% were for Specific intervention (Other)
• public hospitals accounted for 3 in 4 Medical hospitalisations (76%) and almost 4 in 5 Childbirth hospitalisations (77%)
• private hospitals accounted for more than 3 in 5 surgical hospitalisations (61%) and mental health hospitalisations (62%).

Changes over time

• From 2021–22 to 2022–23, Non-emergency hospitalisations increased more (7.2% increase for public, 5% increase for private) than Emergency hospitalisations (1.5% increase for public, 1.8% decrease for private).

• Hospitalisations for Rehabilitation increased to 449,000 in 2022–23 for public and private hospitals combined, compared to a 5-year low of 382,000 in 2021–22. This represented an increase of 21% for public hospitals and 17% for private hospitals compared with 2021–22.

Public hospitals

In 2022–23:

• just over 3 in 4 acute care hospitalisations (5.1 million of 6.8 million) were Medical
• 1 in 6 acute care hospitalisations (1.2 million) were General intervention (Surgical)
• Diseases and disorders of the kidney and urinary tract was the most common Major diagnostic category (MDC) accounting for almost 24% of hospitalisations in public hospitals.

Private hospitals

In 2022–23:

• 2 in 5 acute care hospitalisations (1.8 million of 4.4 million) were General intervention (Surgical)
• 37% of acute care hospitalisations (1.6 million) were Medical
• Diseases and disorders of the digestive system was the most common MDC accounting for 18% of hospitalisations in private hospitals.

Major diagnostic category and AR-DRG

Same-day acute care

In 2022–23:

• the 20 most common AR-DRGs accounted for 2 in 3 same-day acute hospitalisations
• 23% of same-day acute hospitalisations were for Haemodialysis (dialysis), with Chemotherapy the next most common AR-DRG (9%)
• public hospitals provided 4 in 5 same-day acute hospitalisations for Haemodialysis (dialysis)
• private hospitals provided 87% of Dental extractions and restorations and 84% of same-day acute hospitalisations for Retinal interventions, Minor Complexity.

Overnight acute care

In 2022–23:

• two of the top 3 AR-DRGs for overnight acute hospitalisations occurred mostly in public hospitals (80% for Vaginal Delivery, Intermediate Complexity; 90% for Respiratory Infections and Inflammations, Major Complexity). 
• 75% of overnight acute hospitalisations for Knee Replacement, Minor Complexity were in private hospitals. 

OECD Indicators

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) presents comparative information on surgical procedures. The comparability of international surgical procedures may be affected by differences in definitions of hospitals, collection periods and admission practices.

This section includes information on the proportion of surgeries performed on a same-day basis for:

• cataract surgeries
• tonsillectomies

The number of:

• caesarean sections per 100 live births
• coronary revascularisation procedures per 100,000 population, and the proportion of these that were coronary angioplasties
• hip replacement surgeries per 100,000 population
• knee replacement surgeries per 100,000 population

The proportion of surgeries performed laparoscopically for:

• cholecystectomies
• inguinal herniorrhaphies
• appendicectomies.

Highlights

Proportion of cataract surgeries that were performed on a same-day basis

A high proportion of cataract surgeries performed on a same-day basis may point to the efficient use of resources.

In 2022–23:

• the proportion of cataract surgeries performed as same-day procedures in Australia (98.1%) was higher than the 2021 OECD average (77.4%)
• the proportion of patients receiving cataract surgeries performed as same-day procedures is higher compared with 2018–19 (97.3%).

Proportion of tonsillectomies that were performed on a same-day basis

In 2022–23:

• Australia’s proportion of tonsillectomies that were performed on a same-day basis (19.5%) was lower than the 2021 OECD average (38.4%)
• the proportion of tonsillectomies performed as same-day procedures is higher compared with 2018–19 (13.1%).

Number of caesarean sections per 100 live births  

In 2022–23, Australia’s rate of caesarean sections per 100 live births (40.7) was higher than the 2021 OECD average (28.0). This is an increase of 1.1 caesarean sections per 100 live births when compared with 2021–22 (39.6 per 100 live births), and an increase of 4.7 per 100 in 2018–19 (36.0 per 100 live births).

Number of coronary revascularisation procedures per 100,000 population

In 2022–23:

• the coronary revascularisation procedure rate for Australia was below the 2021 OECD average (181.0 and 235.2 per 100,000 population, respectively), and just within the interquartile range
• coronary angioplasty accounted for 77.7% of all Coronary revascularisation procedures in Australia, lower than the 2021 OECD average (85.5%).

Number of hip and knee replacement surgeries per 100,000 population

In 2022–23:

• Australia’s rate of hip replacement surgery in 2022–23 was above the 2021 OECD average (179.9 and 174.9 per 100,000 population, respectively)
• Australia’s rate of knee replacement surgery was above the 2021 OECD average (219.8 and 123.7 per 100,000 population, respectively), and outside of the interquartile range.

Proportion of selected surgical procedures that were performed laparoscopically

Laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery is less invasive (and therefore considered to be safer) than ‘open’ approaches.

In 2022–23, Australia had higher proportions of the 3 selected procedures that were performed laparoscopically than the OECD average:

• 96.0% of cholecystectomies in Australia were performed laparoscopically, compared with the 2021 OECD average (90.5%). It is also higher compared with 2018–19 in Australia (94.6%).
• 94.0% of appendicectomies in Australia were performed laparoscopically, compared with the 2021 OECD average (79.4%). It is also higher compared with 2018–19 in Australia (92.4%).
• 50.1% of inguinal herniorrhaphies in Australia were performed laparoscopically, compared with the 2021 OECD average (33.3%). It is also higher compared with 2018–19 in Australia (45.1%).

This section presents analysis of average daily hospitalisations (presented by date of admission) over 5 years (2018–19 to 2022–23) to highlight the change in seasonal hospitalisations and the impact of COVID-19 on hospitalisations.

Explore the data

The data visualisations below present data on hospitalisations (by date of admission) for 2018–19 to 2022–23, including:

• average daily hospitalisations (by month) by
  • state and territory
  • urgency category.