Its quarterly report for April to June shows that 13,180 people attended ED, which is 1052 (8.7 percent) more than the same period last year.

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Despite the increased demand, PMBH continues to out-perform hospitals of a similar size.

Response times were above the state average in the following key areas:

– More than six in ten patients (63.3 percent) started their treatment on time.

– More than eight in ten patients (82.6 percent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark time.

– The majority of patients (69 percent) left the ED within four hours of arriving.

Demand for emergency department care continues to be high at all hospitals in the Mid North Coast Local Health District (MNCLHD).

“[There were] 37,076 attendances in the quarter, an increase of 1835 (5.2 percent)… compared with the same quarter last year,” Chief Executive Stewart Dowrick said in a statement.

Of these, a record number, 4392, were Triage 2 cases.

These are people who need treatment within ten minutes for an imminently life-threatening condition.

In addition to the emergency figures, the quarterly report shows there were 941 planned surgeries at PMBH, with all urgent planned surgeries (100 percent) performed on time.

“We continue to work hard to ensure planned procedures are performed as quickly as possible and it’s pleasing to see reductions in the numbers of patients overdue for their surgery,” Mr Dowrick said.

MNCLHD continues to remind the community to keep emergency departments and ambulances for saving lives and to consider alternative options for minor conditions such as medical centres, GPs or calling the 24-hour telephone health advice HealthDirect on 1800 022 222.

By Sue STEPHENSON