Admitted patient care 2016�17: Australian hospital statistics

In May each year the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare releases its report on admitted patient care in Australian hospitals. In 2016�17, the majority of admissions to public hospitals (83% or 5.5 million) were for public patients with admissions rising by 4.3% on average each year for public hospitals and 3.6% for private hospitals between 2012�13 and 2016�17. Public hospitals accounted for the majority of emergency admissions (92%), medical admissions (77%) and childbirth admissions (76%) in 2016-17. �By contrast, 59% of admissions for surgery were in private hospitals. Overall, the average length of stay in 2016-17 was 3.2 days in public hospitals and 2.2 days in private hospitals.
Admitted patient care 2016�17: Australian hospital statistics. Health Services Series Number 84, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra. Cat. no. HSE 201