Admitted patient activity

The main measure of activity is the number of hospitalisations (separations or episodes of admitted patient care). Because a hospitalisation can vary in length from ‘same-day’ to months, another useful measure of total activity is patient days. Patient days is the total number of days of care provided to patients. 

This section presents information on:

  • the number of hospitalisations and how long patients stay in hospital
  • the type of care provided.

This section also provides more detailed information on hospital care related to:

  • diagnosis
  • injury
  • surgery and other services provided.

Impacts of COVID-19 on admitted patient activity

Between 2019–20 and 2020–21:

  • the number of hospitalisations increased by 6.3%, compared to a 2.8% decrease between 2018–19 and 2019–20
  • the increase in hospitalisations was greatest for private hospitals (10.5%) compared to public hospitals (3.6%)
  • admissions to Australia’s hospitals was impacted by COVID-19 restrictions and the changes affecting health care provision from February 2020.