More than 230 people logged into the site in its first 24 hours. See which hospitals were the most viewed in that time.
The first 24 hours of real-time health data on hospital emergency departments proved a big hit with Queenslanders.
Thousands of Queenslanders accessed the Open Hospitals website at a rate of about 239 per hour, according to figures released late yesterday.
The site provides real-time information about hospital emergency department pressure points, performance and waiting times at the state’s 25 major hospitals and seven satellite hospitals.
The site was launched on Sunday, as reported yesterday in Health Services Daily.
Information such as median patient wait times and the number of patients who have been triaged and are awaiting treatment to start is updated every 15 to 30 minutes.
Up to 10am on Monday – the first 24 hours of the site’s operation – 5735 users had accessed the service.
The most viewed hospitals in descending order were: Logan, Ipswich, Princess Alexandra, Royal Brisbane Women’s and Children’s.
The busiest times for viewing were 8pm with 1206 users and 7pm with 836 users, and 88% of users accessed the portal from a mobile phone.
Rural Doctors Association of Queensland president Dr Danielle Allan said the service was a major achievement in pulling meaningful data from a number of systems to ensure transparency for the public.
“It will have benefits for our general practitioners as well when needing to refer patients from primary care into the hospital emergency department or minor illness and injury clinics,” she said.
“The 25 sites are a great first step and include regional sites and we look forward to seeing more sites included over time and eventually all Queensland Health emergency departments included in the data.”
Queensland’s ambulance services and health minister Tim Nicholls said the successful launch of the website was a major development.
“Queenslanders now have the critical information they need to make informed decisions about their healthcare options,” he said.
“Patients and our hardworking frontline doctors and nurses made it clear they want more insights into how our health system is performing and now it is happening.
“As I said yesterday when we launched this portal, there are no silver bullets to fix the multiple challenges our health system faces, but openhospitals.health.qld.gov.au is an important first step, providing accurate real-time information to Queenslanders.”
The service was not designed to deter Queenslanders from presenting to emergency departments.
“I want to make it clear, anyone who needs emergency attention should go to their nearest emergency department or call an ambulance on Triple-0 (000) for assistance,” said Mr Nicholls.
“It’s vitally important that Queenslanders get the right care for their condition.”
Health Consumers Queensland CEO Keith Tracey-Patte said the service was an important forward step, helping consumers to be better informed.
“We congratulate the government for ensuring that the new website has been designed from the start with consumer input,” he said.
“This new website allows consumers to view real-time, high-quality data so that they can make decisions about how best to access health care services they need.”
Australian Medical Association Queensland president Dr Nick Yim also congratulated the government on the Open Hospitals website.
“This is a welcome first step in modernising our health system and something the AMA Queensland has urged the government to do for years,” Dr Yim said.