Introduction
In Australia, both public and private hospitals provide hospitalised care. Public hospitals deliver the majority of this care, with private hospitals playing a smaller but important role.
Hospitalisations, more specifically episodes of care or hospital separations, are a particular phase of treatment within a hospital stay, reflected by the care type provided at the time. In admitted care settings, hospitals provide diverse care such as acute, rehabilitation and palliative care. The types of specialist services provided can vary across hospitals.
In 2022–23, Queensland had 121 declared public hospitals and 122 licensed private hospitals, day surgery centres and hospices.1
Patterns of hospitalised care are used for healthcare and mortality statistics, disease burden, quality assurance outcomes and cost. Findings inform strategies to improve individual health, the overall health and wellbeing of the population, and the sustainability of the wider healthcare sector.
This section provides results for hospitalisations (public and private) for Queensland residents by:
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Hospital episode of care
Health conditions categorised by the type of disease, body systems affected, or causal circumstances.
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Potentially preventable hospitalisations
Potentially preventable hospitalisations—a subset that could have been prevented by timely primary care treatment or public health strategies.
References
- Queensland Health. 2024. Queensland Hospital Admitted Patient Data Collection (QHAPDC),
https://www.health.qld.gov.au/hsu/collections/qhapdc, accessed 14 May 2024.
Note: Mater Hospital Brisbane and Mater Mothers’ Hospital, which provide public hospital services but are privately owned and operated, are included as licensed private hospitals.