South Western Sydney Local Health District

Finalist: Patient Safety First Award

Each year, 11,000 patients are admitted to NSW hospitals for problems related to ureteric stones.

Traditionally, treating these stones involves an emergency admission, an average of 1.8 days in the hospital for emergency stent insertion, followed by a second operation to remove the stone, after a median wait time of 64 days (with 20% waiting more than 84 days).

During this time, about 1 in 5 patients will need to return to the hospital due to issues with the stent, which can be very uncomfortable and can lead to bleeding, pain, sexual dysfunction, GP visits and days off work. This process puts a significant strain on the healthcare system and costs more than treating prostate and bladder cancers combined.

To improve this, Campbelltown Hospital has introduced a new approach: performing primary ureteroscopy and laser treatment of the stone in a single stage operation.

This initiative has:

• Reduced post-operative representations (28% to 11%).
• 100% reduction in bed days per patient (2.83 to 1.45 days).
• Savings of $5,000 per patient.
• Better patient quality of life.
• Faster return to work.
• Reduced carbon footprint.

This approach represents value-based care by reducing on double handling of patients and providing safer outcomes.​​