Summary

Australian hospitals are an important part of Australia's health landscape and provide services to many Australians each year. Patients who go to hospital may have an urgent need for medical, surgical or other care, or may receive treatment for a long-term condition. Some patients who need urgent care are critically ill, while for some patients, a long-term condition may have resulted in a life threatening condition. It is hardly surprising, then, that for many Australians, a hospital is the location where death occurs.

This spotlight report looks at admitted patient deaths in Australian hospitals during 2014–15. Information includes how many deaths there were, how this has changed over time, characteristics of the people who died (such as their age and the reason for being admitted), and characteristics of the hospital episode (such as the type of care provided and how urgently care was required). Information is not included on the causes of the deaths as that type of information is not routinely available nationally.

More information on admitted patient care in Australian hospitals can be found in Admitted patient care 2014–15: Australian hospital statistics.