Summary

How much admitted patient care was provided?

In 2014-15, there were about 10.2 million separations (episodes of care) in Australia's public and private hospitals. About 59% of separations (6.0 million) occurred in public hospitals.

Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, the number of separations increased by 3.5% on average each year, by 3.2% for public hospitals and by 4.0% for private hospitals. This was greater than the average increase in population over this period (1.6%).

Almost 29 million days of patient care were reported for admitted patients-19.4 million in public hospitals and 9.4 million in private hospitals. Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, the number of days of patient care increased by about 1.7% on average each year.

Who used these services?

In 2014-15, 53% of separations were for women and girls. About 41% of separations were for people aged 65 and over.

About 4% of separations (443,000) were for Indigenous Australians, who were hospitalised at more than twice the rate for other Australians (950 and 393 per 1,000 people, respectively).

Why did people receive care?

In 2014-15, about 94% of separations were for acute care and 4% for rehabilitation care. The most common single reason for care was dialysis for kidney disease (over 1.3 million separations). Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, separations for dialysis increased by 3.6% on average each year.

What services were provided?

In 2014-15, about 57% of separations were for medical care, 24% were for surgical care and about 3% each were for childbirth and specialised mental health care. Public hospitals accounted for the majority of childbirth separations (75%), medical separations (73%) and emergency admissions (92%). Private hospitals accounted for 60% of surgical separations.

In 2014-15, about 2% of public hospital separations involved a stay in an intensive care unit. About 9.5 million hours of intensive care were reported for public hospitals.

How many procedures were performed?

In 2014-15, about 20.3 million procedures were reported, with about 10.4 million procedures performed in public hospitals and 9.9 million in private hospitals.

Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, elective admissions involving surgery rose by an average of 2.4% per year, by 1.3% for public hospitals and by 3.0% for private hospitals.

How was the care funded?

Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, the number of separations with a funding source of Public patient increased by an average of 2.7% each year, compared with 5.9% per year for separations with a funding source of Private health insurance.

What was the safety and quality of the care?

In 2014-15, about 793,000 separations (8.8%) recorded a condition with onset during the hospital stay. The most commonly reported hospital-acquired conditions included Hypotension, Nausea and vomiting and Urinary tract infections.