The Northern Rivers Times
December 14, 2023
18 NEWS
“Leemo has views on just about anything”
“THE TRAVELLING FELINES TROUPE”
‘Mum Jane’, did you know that making someone smile & laugh can change their mind & way of thinking sometimes?’ It’s ‘Leemo Cat’ writing and I have astutely noticed that Mum’s general ‘good moodiness’ seems to have been lost somewhere of late. Thanks to my avid reading and comprehension of the unpredictable behaviour of humans, I decided it would be a most positive move to make her laugh. I suggested she sit down & relax and ‘cos it’s after 5pm she can have a glass of wine & some cheese & stuff. ‘OK, here’s how it will go Mum. I & my buddies are going to put on a kinda concert for you to cheer you up, ‘cos everyone loves musical interlude in their day. THEN Mum, our ‘Travelling Felines Troupe’ will visit all our Troupes houses and entertain THEIR humans.’ Hmmm? No smiles at this point, but then again, we hadn’t even begun. I waved my baton imperiously and shouted ‘Let’s go Troupe; we’ll open with a few rhymes sung to the tune of ‘Click Go the Shears Boys’, OK? First one: “We are 8 nifty felines with quite a few vices, we frisk, and we play and we eat rats and mices” then “The lion is very fierce and his teeth can easy pierce, the skin of the Postman’s knee. It serves him right though, that ‘COS OF HIS BITE, he never gets letters you see” then “I’m not scared of Pussy Cats, they only eat up mice and rats, but I’m a HIPPOPOTAMUS and could easy eat the
lotofus” then “8 hungry felines sitting down to lunch, gobble gobble gobble, munch munch munch.” Intermission: I glanced at Mum’s face; I noticed her crossed eyes & slightly dumbfounded look on her face & appreciated she was no doubt overcome with awe. THERE WAS ALSO a hint of a wee smile. YIPPEEE goodie, it’s working!! I waved my baton happily. ‘OK Mum, we did have some help with our rhymes via the Milligan family Inc. HOWEVER, we wrote the following one all by ourselves just for our humans’. “We are 8 nifty felines, who live up on a hill. We love climbing trees & stuff, just for the thrill. We do like watching ‘Bluey’ and getting lotsa treats, which reminds us RIGHT NOW, it MUST be time to eat?” (hungry Miaooow chorus) We cunningly built this line into our rhyme as a hint for Mum to get up and bring us treats. She didn’t even BUDGE? Crikey! ‘Alright then Mum, we’ll do ONE MORE of our original rhymes but then we MUST have sustenance. Gottit? My baton wooshed with gusto. Finale: (We were in robust form, in expectation of delicious treats!) OK, let’s GO! “We are called the “Travelin Cats” we trill our rhymes ‘bout this and that. We wander o’er both hill and dale, imparting cheer without the Ale. People clap and cheer and stuff, like they just can’t get enuff… oooh…we were about to continue our rhyme when Mum put her hand in the air like a Judge on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. Hmmm! She spoke. ‘OK guys, time up! Just chill whilst I throw together a fine feast for you; give me 3 minutes, OK?’ Yippee! She continued. ‘HOWEVER, my very special buddy Audrey would just adore for you all to go sit outside her house and troubadour herself and her neighbours. OK? I’ll drop you off and pick you all up after Christmas.’ Hmmm! We’ll have to have a special meeting to discuss this proposal; will Audrey provide treats? Nitey, Leemo & Buddies.
Northern NSW hospitals perform well through busy winter period Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) hospitals continued to reduce the overdue planned surgery wait list despite sustained high activity in emergency departments (EDs) throughout winter, according to the latest Bureau of Health Information Healthcare Quarterly report. Northern NSW Local Health District’s Chief Executive, Tracey Maisey, said the results are a reflection of the continued hard work of staff across the District during the July to September quarter in 2023. “There were 54,204 attendances to NNSWLHD EDs, an increase of 2.1 per cent, or 1,134, more attendances than for the same quarter in 2022. There were also increases in presentations across all triage categories,” Ms Maisey said. “More than seven in 10 patients (75.3 per cent) started treatment on time and eight in 10 patients (80.1 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark, which are both better results than the NSW state average.” All patients are seen and triaged on arrival at the ED and, as always, the most seriously unwell patients are treated first. During busy times, those with less urgent conditions can experience longer wait times when there are large numbers of seriously unwell patients being prioritised for emergency care. Across the District, there were 3,770 planned surgeries performed during the quarter.
The majority of all planned surgeries, including 95.5 per cent of urgent planned surgeries, were performed on time. The percentage of semiurgent and non-urgent planned surgeries performed on time also improved by 4.9 and 12.6 percentage points respectively, compared with the same quarter in 2022. Over the past year, NNSWLHD reduced the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for planned surgery by 55.1 per cent, from 1,580 at the end of September 2022 to 709 at the end of September 2023. Any patient who feels their condition may have deteriorated while waiting for their surgery is encouraged to contact their treating doctor who can review their condition and place them in a higher urgency category, if appropriate. NNSWLHD continues to remind everyone to support us by saving emergency departments and ambulances for saving lives. If an illness or injury is not serious or life-threatening, we encourage people to call Healthdirect Australia on 1800 022 222, for 24-hour telephone health advice. INDIVIDUAL HOSPITAL RESULTS BALLINA DISTRICT HOSPITAL had 4,345 ED attendances during the quarter. The majority of patients (69.5 per cent) started their ED treatment on time. More than seven in 10 patients (75.8 per cent) left the ED within four hours. More than eight in 10 patients (83.4 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff
Jean Sivyer Celebrating her 98th Birthday with her family member Len Kay & Jean Janine
within the 30-minute benchmark. BYRON CENTRAL HOSPITAL had 5,262 ED attendances throughout the third quarter of 2023. The majority of patients (86.1 per cent) started their ED treatment on time and almost eight in 10 patients left the ED within four hours of arriving. More than nine in 10 patients (94.5 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark. CASINO & DISTRICT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL had 3,219 ED attendances in the quarter. The majority of patients (75 per cent) started treatment on time and more than eight in 10 patients (84.5 per cent) left the ED within four hours of arriving. More than nine in 10 patients (93.5 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark. GRAFTON BASE HOSPITAL had 6,732 ED attendances during this quarter. The majority of patients started treatment on time and more than seven in 10 patients (70.7 per cent) left the ED within four hours. More than eight in 10 patients (83 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark. LISMORE BASE HOSPITAL had 10,050 ED attendances during the quarter, which is a 5 per cent increase compared with the same time last year. The majority of patients (63.6 per cent) started their treatment on time. The majority of patients also left the ED within four hours of arriving (55.2
per cent), which is better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW. MACLEAN DISTRICT HOSPITAL had 3,790 ED attendances during the quarter. More than eight in 10 patients (82.8 per cent) started their treatment on time. Almost nine in 10 (88.7 per cent) of patients left the ED within four hours. Nine in 10 patients were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark. MURWILLUMBAH DISTRICT HOSPITAL had 4,814 ED attendances during the quarter, an 8 per cent increase compared with the same time last year. The majority of patients (82.1 per cent) started their treatment on time, which is significantly better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW. More than eight in 10 patients (84 per cent) left the ED within four hours of arriving. Almost all patients (95.8 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark. THE TWEED HOSPITAL had 13,799 ED attendances during the quarter. More than eight in 10 patients (80.3 per cent) started their treatment on time, which is significantly better than the average for hospitals of a similar size in NSW. Almost seven in 10 patients left the ED within four hours of arriving, and more than eight in 10 patients (82.4 per cent) were transferred from ambulance to ED staff within the 30-minute benchmark.
