PATIENTS

In 2013-14, there were 3.2 million patient separations from Acute and psychiatric hospitals, an increase of 4.1% (128,300) since 2012-13. The largest proportion of separations occurred in New South Wales (28.1%), followed by Victoria (25.6%) and Queensland (22.7%) and these three states accounted for 79.9% of the total increase in separations since 2013-13.

Over 8.8 million patient days were recorded in Acute and psychiatric hospitals in 2013-14, up 6.4% (534,300) from 2012-13. New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland accounted for 91.7% of the increase in patient days.

The average length of stay for Acute and psychiatric hospitals in Australia during 2013-14 was 2.7 days, the same as for 2012-13.

Metropolitan hospitals accounted for 87.9% of all separations and 88.9% of all patient days, with hospitals in this category accounting for 87.3% of the available beds and chairs.
The bed occupancy rate in Acute and psychiatric hospitals for 2013-14 was 86.6%, lower that the 84.6% in 2012-13. The occupancy rate was higher in hospitals located in Metropolitan areas (88.2%) than in Rural areas (75.4%).

TABLE 2.5: PRIVATE ACUTE AND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS, States and territories, 2012-13 to 2013-14
		Patient separations		Patient days		Average length of stay	Bed occupancy rate(a)
		'000	%	'000	%	days	%
		2012-13
New South Wales		870	28.1	2,268	27.3	2.6	87.0
Victoria		793	25.7	2,231	26.9	2.8	84.7
Queensland		698	22.6	1,975	23.8	2.8	88.6
South Australia		224	7.2	569	6.9	2.5	83.7
Western Australia		np	np	np	np	np	np
Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory (b)		np	np	np	np	np	np
Australia (c)		3,092	100.0	8,299	100.0	2.7	84.6
Location
	Metropolitan (d)	2,733	88.4	7,385	89.0	2.7	86.1
	Rural (d)	359	11.6	913	11.0	2.5	73.8
		2013-14
New South Wales		906	28.1	2,433	27.5	2.7	91.0
Victoria		825	25.6	2,380	26.9	2.9	87.0
Queensland		732	22.7	2,151	24.4	2.9	91.0
South Australia		227	7.1	585	6.6	2.6	86.1
Western Australia		np	np	np	np	np	np
Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory (b)		np	np	np	np	np	np
Australia (c)		3,220	100.0	8,833	100.0	2.7	86.6
Location
	Metropolitan (d)	2,831	87.9	7,856	88.9	2.8	88.2
	Rural (d)	389	12.1	977	11.1	2.5	75.4
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 over half of the patient separations and patient days reported in 2013-14 at 56.8% and 56.4% respectively. This is comparable to the proportion of beds and chairs that are located in For profit hospitals (55.5%). Religious or charitable Not for profit hospitals accounted for 37.2% of separations and 36.4% 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 (88.0%, up from 85.7% in 2012-13), followed by the Religious or charitable Not for profit hospitals (84.7%, up from 84.1% in 2012-13). The occupancy rate for Other Not for profit hospitals has increased from 79.4% in 2012-13 to 85.9% in 2013-14.

The average length of stay was shortest for the smallest hospitals (0-25 beds) at 1.9 days compared with 3.0 days at hospitals with 25-50 beds and 2.9 days at hospitals with more than 200 beds. The smallest hospitals also have the lowest occupancy rates (55.7% for hospitals with 0-25 beds) and the hospitals with more than 200 beds recorded the highest occupancy rate (89.7%).

TABLE 2.6: PRIVATE ACUTE AND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS, Australia—Sector(a)—2013-14
		Patient separations		Patient days		Average length of stay	Bed occupancy rate(b)
		'000	%	'000	%	days	%
		For profit/Not for profit sector
For profit		1,830	56.8	4,981	56.4	2.7	88.0
Not for profit
	Religious or charitable	1,199	37.2	3,215	36.4	2.7	84.7
	Other(c)	191	5.9	638	7.2	3.3	85.9
Total(d)		3,220	100.0	8,833	100.0	2.7	86.6
		Hospital size(e)
0–25 beds		68	2.1	132	1.5	1.9	55.7
26–50 beds		209	6.5	627	7.1	3.0	77.3
51–100 beds		705	21.9	1,878	21.3	2.7	85.6
101–200 beds		1,142	35.5	3,060	34.6	2.7	88.4
Over 200 beds		1,096	34.0	3,137	35.5	2.9	89.7
Total(d)		3,220	100.0	8,833	100.0	2.7	86.6
(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 2013-14, 86.7% of patient separations from Acute and psychiatric hospitals carried hospital insurance, up from 86.4% in 2012-13. South Australia had the highest proportion of patient separations that carried hospital insurance, at 93.2%, while New South Wales had the lowest proportion of the four largest states at 80.6% coverage. It should be noted that some states and territories with a lower proportion of patient separations that carried hospital insurance also had more separations where this information was not stated.

TABLE 2.7: PRIVATE ACUTE AND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS, Patient insurance sector—States and territories—2013-14
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas., NT & ACT(a)	Aus.(b)
	Patient separations ('000)
Hospital insurance (c)	729	710	677	212	np	np	2,792
No hospital insurance	74	87	55	15	np	np	278
Total(d)	906	825	732	227	np	np	3,220
	Patient separations (%)
Hospital insurance (c)	80.6	86.1	92.5	93.2	np	np	86.7
No hospital insurance	8.2	10.6	7.5	6.8	np	np	8.6
Total(d)	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
	Average length of stay (Days)
Hospital insurance (c)	2.7	2.8	2.9	2.5	np	np	2.7
No hospital insurance	2.7	3.4	2.8	3.2	np	np	3.0
Total(d)	2.7	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.