MyHospitals – Shining a light on Australian Hospitals

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PDF printable version of MyHospitals – Shining a light on Australian Hospitals (PDF 34 KB)

10 December 2010

Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon today launched the MyHospitals website, giving the community clear, comparable and user-friendly information about the services and the performance of their local hospital.

“We want to shine a light on hospitals to make it easier for all Australians to access important information about the services and performance of their local hospital,” said Ms Roxon.

“This is the first time that nationally consistent information has been available on the performance of our individual public hospitals.

“The website has been developed and the data compiled by the trusted Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It includes waiting times for elective surgery and emergency department care for the 2009/10 financial year as well as a comparison to the previous year.

“Now, for the first time with a click of a mouse, patients will be able to see how their hospital compares to the national average for the services that they provide.

“People who will benefit include patients who want to check the average waiting times for surgery, and expectant mums who can check whether their nearest hospital has an obstetrics and maternity unit.

“As well as performance data, MyHospitals contains information about bed numbers, patient admissions and hospital accreditation, as well as the types of specialised services each hospital provides.

“We will work with the states and territories to increase the range of information that will be on the site. We strongly believe that consumers have the right to know about the performance of their hospitals.

“This is the first Federal Government that's directly invested in improving elective surgery and emergency department waiting times - an investment that now totals $2.9 billion. This includes $600 million in reward payments as part of health reform for states that meet targets for waiting times.

“The Commonwealth’s reforms will open over 1,300 more sub acute beds and we are also investing in primary and preventative health to reduce the demand on hospitals,” said Ms Roxon.

The website also includes preliminary information from around 150 private hospitals, of which the number and detail of information will continue to grow over time.

MyHospitals allows users to search for hospitals by name, or browse by region to see all facilities available in their area.

The AIHW worked with consumers to ensure that the website is as simple, clear and intuitive to use.

On each hospital page, dial indicators show at a glance whether waiting times at that hospital are longer or shorter than the national average. People can also look up waiting times for major surgical specialties and 15 specific procedures.

If people have questions, there will be a call centre available from 8am – 8pm, Monday to Friday, which will also be open on the weekend of December 11 and 12. The number to call is 1300 668 815.

MyHospitals will be available today from 11 am, 10 December at www.myhospitals.gov.au.

For more information, contact Ms Roxon’s Office: (02) 6277 7220