Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison said the figures were further proof the community needed a concrete start date for the new Lower Hunter hospital at Metford.

The figure comes from the public hospital performance report that the Bureau of Health Information released.

Public hospitals across the state posted impressive service ­figures from April to June 2015, but the percentage of patients who left the emergency department within four hours had dropped.

In Maitland, 32 per cent of patients were still waiting in the emergency department four hours after they fronted for treatment.

“It is quite obvious the hospital has too many people in its ­surrounding areas to deal with,” Ms Aitchison said.

“We need the new hospital, there will only be an increase in waiting times until it is built.”

The median wait time for non-urgent surgery at Maitland Hospital was dramatically up on the same period last year, from 157 days to 247.

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When the numbers are broken down further the wait becomes more than 200 days for some surgery categories.

The median wait time for orthopaedic surgery was 242 days in Maitland, an increase of 127 days from the same period last year.

While the wait for a knee replacement was 297 days, up from 183 from the same period last year.

Ms Aitchison said these figures caused wider problems for the Hunter’s ageing population.

Patients waiting for a knee replacement would have a poor quality of life while on the waiting list and would often suffer from additional health issues, such as diabetes.

“These issues really need to be dealt with,” she said.

“We keep hearing this promise of a new hospital, but in the meantime nothing is happening to alleviate the stress on the system.

“We need to have proper staffing and a date on when the hospital will be built.”

BHI Chief Executive Dr Jean-Frederic Levesque said during April and June 2015 the more patients attended emergency departments, and more patients were admitted to hospital across the state.

Emergency department performance was largely stable during the quarter, however, the percentage of patients who left the emergency department within four hours dropped slightly to 73 per cent.

“This result is one percentage point lower than the same quarter in 2014, but six percentage points higher than the same quarter in 2013,” Dr Levesque said. 

The John Hunter Hospital emergency department saw 18,729 patients in the period from April to June this year and 37 per cent were still waiting for treatment after four hours.

“We need the new hospital, there will only be an increase in waiting times until it is built.”

The median wait time for non-urgent surgery at Maitland Hospital was dramatically up on the same period last year, from 157 days to 247.

When the numbers are broken down further the wait becomes more than 200 days for some surgery categories.

The median wait time for orthopaedic surgery was 242 days in Maitland, an increase of 127 days from the same period last year.

While the wait for a knee replacement was 297 days, up from 183 from the same period last year.

Ms Aitchison said these figures caused wider problems for the Hunter’s ageing population.

Patients waiting for a knee replacement would have a poor quality of life while on the waiting list and would often suffer from additional health issues, such as diabetes.

“These issues really need to be dealt with,” she said.

“We keep hearing this promise of a new hospital, but in the meantime nothing is happening to alleviate the stress on the system.

“We need to have proper staffing and a date on when the hospital will be built.”

BHI chief executive Jean-Frederic Levesque said, during April and June 2015 more patients had attended emergency departments, and more patients were admitted to hospital across the state.

Emergency department performance was largely stable during the quarter, however, the percentage of patients who left the emergency department within four hours dropped slightly to 73 per cent.

“This result is one percentage point lower than the same quarter in 2014, but six percentage points higher than the same quarter in 2013,” Dr Levesque said. 

The John Hunter Hospital emergency department saw 18,729 patients in the period from April to June this year and 37 per cent were still waiting for treatment after four hours.

General Manager of Maitland Hospital Lynne Bickerstaff:

"More than 11,000 people presented to Maitland Hospital Emergency Department during the April to June 2015 quarter, a one per cent increase from the same period last year.

Maitland Hospital is working hard to reach the target of having 81 per cent of patients treated, admitted, discharged or referred from its Emergency Department within four hours.

For the quarter to June 2015, 68 per cent of patients were treated, admitted, discharged or referred from Maitland Hospital Emergency Department within four hours. These results were achieved despite an increase in the number of presentations, and are an improvement from the previous quarter.

The average time in which patients left the ED at Maitland Hospital was around three hours. This means most patients are being seen by their doctor and either discharged or admitted to a bed less than four hours from arrival.

Maitland Hospital’s efforts to improve the time it takes to transfer patients from the care of an ambulance to the Emergency Department are seeing encouraging results. This quarter, the mediantransfer of care time was 10 minutes – well below the state average of 13 minutes and an improvement on the same period last year. 

The key performance indicator for elective surgery is the percentage of patients treated within timeframes recommended by their clinicians.

The BHI report showed that for the quarter to June 2015, more than 99 per cent of all surgeries were performed on time at Maitland Hospital. This includes non-urgent surgery, which is an improvement from the same period last year. 

For some conditions, the Ministry of Health’s Surgical Taskforce has provided recommended clinical priorities. For total hip and knee replacements the Taskforce recommends a clinical priority three, that is that patients should receive their surgery within 365 days. Maitland Hospital met the Ministry of Health’s performance targets for all orthopaedic patients for the quarter to June 2015. 

Demand for orthopaedic services in Hunter New England Health is high.

We continue to work hard to ensure more patients receive their surgery within clinically recommended timeframes. This includes working closely with surgeons and facilities with capacity and shorter waiting times to enable patients to have their surgery sooner.