A new report from the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows Western Australian hospitals are treating more patients than ever before, while still meeting important national performance targets.

 The Australian hospital statistics 2012-2013 report released today shows there were a total of 687,840 separations in the WA public system in 2012-13, an increase of 3.7 per cent on 2011-12.

 Health Minister Kim Hames said many of the report’s findings reflected the significant improvements being made throughout WA hospitals.

 “WA elective surgery waiting times were better when compared to the Australian average, with the WA median wait time for elective surgery the lowest for all urgency categories compared to other States and Territories,” Dr Hames said.

 “Importantly, there was a 3.6 per cent increase in the number of patients admitted from waiting lists for elective surgery in public hospitals.”

 WA also still leads the country in the proportion of emergency department visits completed in four hours or less which, at 78 per cent, is higher than the national average of 71 per cent.

 “This report show that WA is doing a great job in meeting performance targets when compared with other States and Territories,” the Minister said.

 “It is clear from this report that we are keeping up with demand for hospital services and this is a credit to all WA Health staff who work hard providing care in our health system.”