14 Aug 2017 Wangaratta Chronicle, Wangaratta VIC (General News) NORTHEAST Health Wangaratta (NHW) treated 96 per cent of elective surgery patients within the clinically recommended time, well above the statewide average of 89 per cent. According to the latest Victorian Health Services performance data for the 12 months to June 30, 2017, NHW admitted 2583 elective surgery patients with 663 on the waiting list at the end of June compared to 701 three months earlier. All 472 category one patients were treated within the desired 30 days with just 8.8 per cent of elective surgery admissions postponed in the last 12 months. The emergency department saw 6097 patients compared to 5820 in the same period in 2016 with 88 per cent treated within the recommended time including 100 per cent of the 96 category 1 patients treated immediately. Ambulance response times in the rural city also improved with 75.6 per cent of ambulances now arriving within 15 minutes for code one emergencies, up from 72.5 per cent compared to the same time last year. That means the average response time for an ambulance to reach the scene of a code one emergency in the Wangaratta Rural City has improved from 14.02 minutes to 12.41 minutes. These are fantastic results for Wangaratta and further shows the Andrews Labor Government is making sure more Victorians no matter where they live get the care they need faster, Jaclyn Symes (MLC, Northern Victoria) said. Our ambulance and health services are on the frontline giving patients the first class care they need and deserve, when they need it. Our paramedics are getting to patients faster when only minutes stand between life or death for some of our patients. Our elective surgery blitz is making a real difference with more patients coming off waiting lists and into the operating theatre sooner. Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.