PATIENTS

In 2011-12, there were just under 3 million patient separations from Acute and psychiatric hospitals, an increase of 5.1% since 2010-11. Most of the separations occurred in New South Wales (28.1%), Victoria (25.3%) and Queensland (22.6%), broadly reflecting the distribution of beds and chairs (26.9%, 26.3% and 23.1% respectively). New South Wales had the highest percentage increase in separations in 2011-12 from 2010-11, of 7.5%. Metropolitan hospitals accounted for 88.2% of all separations, with hospitals in this category accounting for 87.3% of the available beds and chairs.

Over 8 million patient days were recorded in Acute and psychiatric hospitals in 2011-12, up 1.3% from 2010-11. New South Wales recorded the strongest growth in patient days over this period at 3.5%, followed by Queensland with 2.4%. Victoria and South Australia recorded patient days decreases of 1.4% and 2.7% respectively.

The average length of stay for Acute and psychiatric hospitals in Australia during 2011-12 was 2.7 days, slightly down from 2.8 days in 2010-11.

The bed occupancy rate in Acute and psychiatric hospitals for 2011-12 was 84.9%, slightly lower that the 85.9% in 2010-11. The occupancy rate was higher in hospitals located in Metropolitan areas (86.4%) than in Rural areas (74.7%).

TABLE 2.5: PRIVATE ACUTE AND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS, States and territories, 2010-11 to 2011–12
		Patient separations		Patient days		Average length of stay	Bed occupancy rate(a)
		'000	%	'000	%	days	%
		2010-11
New South Wales		774	27.4	2 131	26.8	2.8	87.1
Victoria		725	25.7	2 181	27.4	3.0	90.1
Queensland		639	22.6	1 885	23.7	3.0	86.1
South Australia		218	7.7	579	7.3	2.7	83
Western Australia		np	np	np	np	np	np
Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory (b)		np	np	np	np	np	np
Australia (c)		2 822	100	7 966	100	2.8	85.9
Location
	Metropolitan (d)	2 434	86.3	6 934	87	5.7	88.1
	Rural (d)	388	13.7	1 032	13	2.7	73.8
		2011-12
New South Wales		832	28.1	2 206	27.3	2.7	86.4
Victoria		751	25.3	2 151	26.7	2.9	86.2
Queensland		671	22.6	1 930	23.9	2.9	87.9
South Australia		220	7.4	564	7.0	2.6	82.4
Western Australia		np	np	np	np	np	np
Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory (b)		np	np	np	np	np	np
Australia (c)		2 965	100	8 066	100	2.7	84.9
Location
	Metropolitan (d)	2 617	88.2	7 163	88.8	2.7	86.4
	Rural (d)	349	11.8	903	11.2	2.6	74.7
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated (a) Calculated by dividing patient days by the product of average number of beds and the number of days in the year and expressed as a percentage. See Glossary for more information. (b) Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have been aggregated to protect the confidentiality of the small number of hospitals in these states/territories. (c) Figures have been rounded and discrepancies may occur between totals and the sums of the component items. (d) Metropolitan and rural are two classifications included in the newly introduced Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). See Glossary for more detail.

Hospital sector

Private acute and psychiatric hospitals operating on a For profit basis accounted for a little over half of the patient separations and patient days reported in 2011-12 at 55.7% and 54.9% respectively. This is comparable to the proportion of beds and chairs that are located in For profit hospitals (54.0%). Religious or charitable Not for profit hospitals accounted for 36.3% of separations and 36.7% of the patient days, with Other Not for profit hospitals accounting for the balance.

There was little difference in average length of stay by hospital sector, with an overall average length of stay of 2.7 days.

Bed occupancy rates were highest in the For profit hospitals (86.3%, down from 88.2% in 2010-11), followed by the Religious or charitable Not for profit hospitals (83.6%, down from 85.3% in 2010-11). The occupancy rate has risen for Other Not for profit hospitals from 67.3% in 2010-11 to 81.4% in 2011-12.

The average length of stay was shortest for the smallest hospitals, at 2.2 days for hospitals with 0-25 beds, compared to 2.9 days at hospitals with more than 200 beds. There was a strong correlation between hospital size and bed occupancy rates, with the smallest hospitals having the lowest occupancy rates (60.5% for hospitals with 0-25 beds) and the hospitals with more than 200 beds recording the highest occupancy rate (91.4%).

TABLE 2.6: PRIVATE ACUTE AND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS, Australia—Sector(a)—2011–12
		Patient separations		Patient days		Average length of stay	Bed occupancy rate(b)
		'000	%	'000	%	days	%
For profit/Not for profit sector
For profit		1 653	55.7	4 428	54.9	2.7	86.3
Not for profit
	Religious or charitable	1 077	36.3	2 956	36.7	2.7	83.6
	Other(c)	235	7.9	682	8.4	2.9	81.4
Total(d)		2 965	100	8 066	100	2.7	84.9
Hospital size(e)
0–25 beds		60	2.0	132	1.6	2.2	60.5
26–50 beds		214	7.2	601	7.4	2.8	74.4
51–100 beds		725	24.4	1 910	23.7	2.6	82.7
101–200 beds		938	31.6	2 478	30.7	2.6	84.2
Over 200 beds		1 029	34.7	2 945	36.5	2.9	91.4
Total(d)		2 965	100	8 066	100	2.7	84.9
(a) For definition of 'For Profit/not for profit sector', see Glossary. (b) Calculated by dividing patient days by the product of average number of beds and the number of days in the year and expressed as a percentage. See Glossary for further information. (c) Comprising bush nursing, community and memorial hospitals. (d) Figures have been rounded and discrepancies may occur between totals and the sums of the component items. (e) Based on available beds (average for the year).

Insurance status

During 2011-12, 87.1% of patient separations from Acute and psychiatric hospitals carried hospital insurance, up from 86.6% in 2010-11. South Australia had the highest proportion of patient separations that carried hospital insurance, at 95.5%, while New South Wales had the lowest proportion of the four largest states at 82.8% coverage.

TABLE 2.7: PRIVATE ACUTE AND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS, Patient insurance sector—States and territories—2011–12
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas., NT & ACT(a)	Aus.(b)
	Patient separations ('000)
Hospital insurance (c)	686	638	619	210	np	np	2 579
No hospital insurance	79	91	52	10	np	np	280
Total(d)	829	751	671	220	np	np	2 965
	Patient separations (%)
Hospital insurance (c)	82.8	84.9	92.3	95.5	np	np	87.1
No hospital insurance	9.6	12.1	7.7	4.4	np	np	9.5
Total(d)	100	100	100	100	np	np	100
	Average length of stay (Days)
Hospital insurance (c)	2.6	2.8	2.9	2.6	np	np	2.7
No hospital insurance	2.7	3.5	2.5	2.5	np	np	3.0
Total(d)	2.6	2.9	2.9	2.6	np	np	2.7
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated (a) Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have been aggregated to protect the confidentiality of the small number of hospitals in these states/territories. (b) Figures have been rounded and discrepancies may occur between totals and the sums of the component items. (c) For definition of patient hospital insurance status, see Glossary. (d) Total includes patient separations where insurance status is not stated.

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