HALF of the patients that presented at the hospital emergency department this year had just semi-urgent injuries, a Bureau of Health Information report shows.
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Sprained ankles and earaches are the kinds of injuries nurses triage as semi-urgent.
Overall there were less presentations in the emergency department [ED], and Tamworth Hospital general manager Yvonne Patricks said the message about seeing a GP for non-urgent illnesses seems to be getting through.
"If patients feel they need to be seen in ED they need to come," she said.
"If it is a condition they believe would normally go to a GP they need to make that determination."
Less elective surgeries were performed this quarter, and 100 per cent of those operations were completed in the recommended timeframes.
Patients who need eye surgery wait the longest at an average of 317 days, while those who need vascular surgery only wait a day.
Eye surgery also has one of the highest number of patients in the waiting list.
The hospital has been working hard to attract more senior doctors to the emergency department with a number of specialist positions recruited in recent months, Dr Patricks said.
"I think if people are looking at the data they would be encouraged to come to Tamworth to have their surgery," she said.
"It's not just even that we perform within the recommended time frames and better, but our service is excellent."
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A slight rise in mental health admissions could mean either more patients are suffering from mental illness, or more have chosen to seek help.
In the emergency department the hospital has introduced a number of initiatives to try to reduce long wait times.
An early treatment zone looks after low-need patients to clear up spots in the ED.
All beds across the Peel sector are also used, with early discharge planning aimed to free up room for patients.