LaTrobe Private Hospital

LaTrobe Private Hospital is fully accredited against the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHSS), a mandatory set of standards established by the Australian Government for all public and private hospitals.

Accreditation involves a visit to the hospital from an independent team of expert health professionals who review the quality and safety of services provided. This occurs every three years, in accordance with the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. The hospital is measured against eight overarching standards with many different criteria, including patient-centred care, medication management, clinical handover, infection prevention and staff education. Each item receives a rating, and recommendations for improvements may be made.

At the most recent survey in February 2024, LaTrobe Private Hospital passed all applicable and prescribed criteria, meeting the requirements for interim accreditation when opening a new facility. The hospital's accreditation report can be viewed here.

Note: LaTrobe Private Hospital has recently re-opened in a new capacity. We are currently collecting data for 2024, which will be published in 2025.

At LaTrobe Private Hospital, we are committed to providing patients with the best possible experience during their hospital stay. Patient experience often reflects the personal side of care. To evaluate how well we meet patient needs, we invite our patients to complete a survey after discharge. We have based our survey on the new Australian Hospital Patient Experience Question Set (AHPEQS) developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care for use in both public and private health services.

LaTrobe Private Hospital commenced using this tool as soon as it was made available by the Commission in January 2018. Prior to this we used a variety of survey tools, including the US-based Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers System (HCAHPS) survey.

Completion of our survey is voluntary and anonymous. Most patients fill in their surveys online. We conduct surveys continuously throughout the year, which provides us with feedback that is more accurate than periodic surveys. Sample size has been building as we focus on electronic rather than paper survey formats.

Our senior hospital staff have access to LaTrobe Private Hospital's survey results via an electronic Patient Experience Portal. This allows them to review feedback immediately and identify any opportunities for improvement. Maintaining anonymity, both positive and negative patient comments are shared with relevant staff. This is part of our commitment to provide the best possible experience for our patients.

LaTrobe Private Hospital's survey results are also continuously monitored by the Quality Department at Healthscope Corporate Office. Reports are presented to senior management and the Board.

One of our key questions is about the overall quality of treatment and care, which can be rated on a scale of 1 to 5, from 'very good' to 'very poor'. The graph below shows the percentage of patients who have rated the quality of their treatment and care overall as 'very good' or 'good' (top two boxes) over a period of 15 months.

This graph shows that patients' rating of treatment and care at LaTrobe Private Hospital has been consistently above 90% for combined 'very good' and 'good' responses. [Data correct as 23 January 2019. Please note that more recent data is currently not available. If you would like to view Healthscope-wide results, please click here.]

What are we doing to improve patient experience?

LaTrobe Private Hospital employs a variety of strategies to enhance patient experience. These include:

• ongoing staff education and provision of resources to ensure that care is person-focused and of the highest standard
• hospital management constantly monitoring the rating of overall treatment and care and taking action to address any areas of concern
• consulting with Healthscope's National Patient Experience Manager to assist us in implementing strategies to enhance patient experience
• engaging Consumer Consultants who provide feedback from a patient's or carer's perspective
• involving patients in their care, for example by shift handover occurring at the bedside
• follow-up phone calls to patients after discharge from hospital to ensure they are recovering well
• keeping relatives informed of the current location of their loved one in hospital via the 'Patient Finder' app
• 'Patient Journeys' - volunteer patients diarising detailed feedback on every part of their hospital experience from pre-admission to post-discharge follow-up
• focused initiatives to address areas of concern, such as taste testing to improve our menu, or measuring of noise levels within different hospital areas

Note: LaTrobe Private Hospital has recently re-opened in a new capacity. We are currently collecting data for 2024, which will be published in 2025.

LaTrobe Private Hospital follows strict infection control procedures, and staff take every precaution to prevent infections. Specialised infection control staff collect and analyse data on infections in order to identify and implement best practices to reduce infection rates.

Patients with weakened immune systems, with wounds and with invasive devices such as drips are at greater risk of infection than the general public.

There are several types of infections that we closely monitor at LaTrobe Private Hospital. Two of the most important are:

• Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteraemia - also known as SAB. This is a serious infection caused by bacteria entering the blood stream.
• Clostridium Difficile - also known as C Diff. This is an infection of the bowel that causes diarrhoea.

The graph below shows the number of Staphylococcus Aureus infections at LaTrobe Private Hospital. The coloured bars represent LaTrobe Private Hospital's rate. This is compared to the Australian Government target, shown in the grey bar. The national benchmark for SAB is no more than 2 cases per 10,000 days of patient care.

This graph shows that there have been no SAB infections at LaTrobe Private Hospital in recent years. [Please note that more recent data is currently not available. If you would like to view Healthscope-wide results, please click here.]

The graph below shows the number of Clostridium Difficile infections. The coloured bars represent LaTrobe Private Hospital's rate. This is compared to the rate in other Australian hospitals, shown in the grey bars. The industry rate varies from 2 to 3 cases per 10,000 days of patient care.

This graph shows that there have been no cases of Clostridium Difficile infections at LaTrobe Private Hospital in recent years. [Please note that more recent data is currently not available. If you would like to view Healthscope-wide results, please click here.]

To find out how we generated this data, see: Infection Rate Formulas

What are we doing to reduce the risk of infection?

LaTrobe Private Hospital employs a variety of strategies to prevent infections. These include:

• auditing how often staff wash their hands using soap and water or hand sanitiser
• using gloves and specialised sterile equipment
• assigning a dedicated Infection Control Nurse responsible for educating staff and implementing infection control strategies
• using specialised disinfectants when cleaning facilities
• following national guidelines for high level disinfection and sterilisation processes
• placing hand sanitiser dispensers in public areas throughout the hospital so that they are readily accessible to staff, patients and visitors

What can you do to help?

At LaTrobe Private Hospital, patients and visitors are part of the health care team. There are a number of things you can do to reduce the risk of infection for yourself and others:

• Wash your hands carefully with soap and water or use hand sanitiser upon entering the hospital.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Clean your hands afterwards - every time!
• If you don't have a tissue available, cough or sneeze into your elbow, not your hand.
• As a patient, report any infection you have had, especially if you are still on antibiotics.
• Make sure you take the full course of antibiotics you have been given, even if you are feeling better.
• If you have a dressing for a wound, keep the skin around the dressing clean and dry. Let the healthcare worker looking after you know promptly if it becomes loose or wet.
• Tell your healthcare worker if the area around any drips, tubes or drains inserted into your body becomes red, swollen or painful.
• Let the healthcare worker looking after you know if your room or equipment hasn't been cleaned properly.
• Stop smoking before any surgery, as smoking increases the risk of infection.

Visitors

• Don't visit if you have an illness such as a cough, cold or gastroenteritis ('gastro').
• Wash your hands carefully with soap and water or use hand sanitiser when entering and leaving a patient's room.

For more information about how you can help:

• Read: Hand Hygiene Information Brochure
• Watch: Interactive Video Training

Note: LaTrobe Private Hospital has recently re-opened in a new capacity. We are currently collecting data for 2024, which will be published in 2025.

Hand Hygiene is another name for hand washing or cleaning. Good hand hygiene is an important part of infection control. Germs can survive on unwashed hands for over an hour, and we can unknowingly transmit bacteria and viruses to others.

All our staff are required to frequently wash their hands with soap and water or with waterless hand sanitiser. Both are equally effective. We follow the World Health Organisation's guidelines for hand hygiene, which specify the following times when health care staff must wash their hands:

• before touching a patient
• after touching a patient
• before a procedure
• after a procedure
• after touching a patient's belongings or surroundings

At LaTrobe Private Hospital, we use auditors who are accredited by Hand Hygiene Australia to record whether or not hand hygiene has been performed correctly.

The graph below shows the levels of hand hygiene compliance. The coloured bars represent LaTrobe Private Hospital's rate. This is compared to the Australian national benchmark of 80%, shown in the grey bar.

This graph shows that staff at LaTrobe Private Hospital have had a high rate of compliance with hand hygiene. [Please note that more recent data is currently not available. If you would like to view Healthscope-wide results, please click here.]

When audits are performed, each professional group is checked - including doctors, nurses, cleaners and other hospital staff.

The first graph below on the left shows which groups were audited. The graph on the right shows the hand hygiene rate for different staff within the hospital. It shows that compliance rates for nursing staff have been highest.

The graph below shows that doctor hand hygiene rates have been above the national benchmark.

[Please note that more recent data is currently not available. If you would like to view Healthscope-wide results, please click here.]

What are we doing to improve hand hygiene compliance?

LaTrobe Private Hospital employs a variety of strategies to improve hand hygiene compliance. These include:

• ongoing education programs for staff about infections and hand hygiene
• a designated Infection Control Nurse responsible for educating staff and implementing infection control strategies
• placement of hand sanitiser dispensers in convenient areas throughout the hospital, including hallways and patient rooms
• use of individual staff hand sanitisers in critical care areas
• specially designed washbasins where water can be turned on and off without touching the tap

What can you do to help?

At LaTrobe Private Hospital, patients and visitors are part of the health care team. Good hand hygiene is the most important way in which you can prevent the spread of infection in hospital. There are a number of things you can do:

• Wash your hands carefully with soap and water or use hand sanitiser upon entering and leaving the hospital.
• Wash your hands carefully with soap and water or use hand sanitiser when entering and leaving a patient's room.
• Observe hospital signage about hand hygiene.
• If you are unable to find a hand sanitiser station, please ask staff for assistance.

For more information about how you can help:

• Read: Hand Hygiene Information Brochure
• Watch: Interactive Video Training

Note: LaTrobe Private Hospital has recently re-opened in a new capacity. We are currently collecting data for 2024, which will be published in 2025.

Falls are a leading cause of hospital-acquired injury and frequently prolong or complicate hospital stays. Patients may experience a fall because they are weakened by a medical condition or after an accident or surgery.

The graph below shows the percentage of patients who have had a fall. The coloured bars represent LaTrobe Private Hospital's rate. This is compared to the rate of falls at other Australian hospitals, shown in the grey bar.

This graph shows that patients at LaTrobe Private Hospital have had a slightly higher rate of falls than patients in other Australian hospitals. [Please note that more recent data is currently not available. If you would like to view Healthscope-wide results, please click here.]

See details on: How we work out our falls rate.

For a discussion on the data, see: Limitations of data.

What are we doing to prevent patient falls?

LaTrobe Private Hospital employs a variety of strategies to reduce the risk of patients having a fall. These include:

• risk assessments to identify patients at risk of falling
• ongoing staff education on falls prevention
• patient education on prevention of falls in hospital and at home
• use of safety equipment such as lifting hoists, walking aids and chair or bed sensors that alert staff when a patient who is at risk of falling gets up unassisted
• review of each fall to assess if there were any preventable factors

What can you do to help?

At LaTrobe Private Hospital, patients and visitors are part of the health care team. You may like to print a brochure containing handy hints about preventing falls. You can also watch a helpful video.

• Brochure: Don't Fall For It
• Video: Speak Up - Reduce Your Risk of Falling

Note: LaTrobe Private Hospital has recently re-opened in a new capacity. We are currently collecting data for 2024, which will be published in 2025.

Pressure injuries - commonly known as bed sores - are areas of skin damage caused by prolonged pressure. They can range in severity from reddened skin to broken skin to ulcers with underlying tissue damage.

Pressure injuries can sometimes occur when a patient remains in one position for a long period. Certain people are at increased risk of developing pressure injuries, such as the elderly, people who are bedbound or have poor mobility and people with chronic conditions like diabetes.

The graph below shows the number of patients who have developed a pressure injury during their admission to hospital. The coloured bars represent LaTrobe Private Hospital's rate. This is compared to the rate of pressure injuries in other Australian hospitals, shown in the grey bar.

This graph shows that in recent years, patients at LaTrobe Private Hospital have had a lower risk of developing a pressure injury compared with patients in other Australian hospitals. [Please note that more recent data is currently not available. If you would like to view Healthscope-wide results, please click here.]

What are we doing to prevent pressure injuries?

LaTrobe Private Hospital employs a variety of strategies to minimise the risk of patients developing pressure injuries. These include:

• risk assessments to identify patients who are susceptible to pressure injuries
• ongoing education for nursing staff in pressure injury identification, prevention and management
• patient education on prevention of pressure injuries in hospital and at home
• use of pressure-relieving devices such as special mattresses, cushions, wedges, sheepskins, water-filled supports, contoured or textured foam supports, heel elevators, and supports filled with gel or beads
• regularly changing patients' position and encouraging walking or movement if possible
• referral to a wound management consultant if a pressure injury is identified
• review of each pressure injury acquired in hospital to assess if there were any preventable factors

Note: LaTrobe Private Hospital has recently re-opened in a new capacity. We are currently collecting data for 2024, which will be published in 2025.

Following discharge from hospital, patients sometimes require an unplanned readmission. There are many reasons why a patient may need to return to hospital, such as a surgical would infection that occurred after their initial hospital stay.

Good discharge planning can help reduce the rate of unplanned readmissions. This includes making follow-up arrangements, providing patients with clear care instructions and helping them recognise symptoms that require immediate medical attention.

The graph below shows the percentage of patients who have required an unplanned readmission to hospital within 28 days of their first admission. The coloured bars represent LaTrobe Private Hospital's rate. This is compared to the rate of unplanned readmission in other Australian hospitals, shown in the grey bar.

This graph shows that patients admitted to LaTrobe Private Hospital have been less likely to have an unplanned readmission compared with patients in other Australian hospitals. [Please note that more recent data is currently not available. If you would like to view Healthscope-wide results, please click here.]

What are we doing to reduce unplanned readmissions?

LaTrobe Private Hospital employs a variety of strategies to minimise unplanned readmissions. These include:

• discharge processes which ensure that patients understand their medications and any post-operative instructions
• arranging appropriate follow-up care and ongoing appointments, e.g. with the General Practitioner or Physiotherapist
• reviewing each unplanned readmission to assess if there were any preventable factors