From auto-transplant surgery to improving neonatal birth rates, it all adds up to positives
The survival rate for premature babies in South Australia keeps improving.
The Royal Adelaide Hospital is the only place in Australia where people suffering severe and hereditary pancreatitis can have potentially lifesaving islet auto-transplant surgeries.
Since 2015, five islet auto-transplant surgeries have been done at Royal Adelaide Hospital, the only place in Australia to offer the procedure.
In a total pancreatectomy and islet auto-transplant, patients have the diseased pancreas removed and its insulin-producing islets cells extracted, before being reinfused back into their liver. This minimises the risk of diabetes.
For 10 years, The Hospital Research Fund has given more than $1.5 million to renal transplant research and ground-breaking islet transplant research. With Kidney, Transplant and Diabetes Research Australia in 2018, the foundation’s backing will allow another six of the islet auto-transplant surgeries to be done in South Australia.
Meanwhile, the survival rate for premature babies in South Australia keeps improving with a 2015 report showing there were 35 neonatal deaths, at a mortality rate of 1.7 per 1,000 live births.
The Pregnancy Outcomes in South Australia 2015 report shows a gradual increase in preterm and low birthweight births over the past 36 years. Of all 2015 births, 9.6% were preterm compared to 5.5% in 1981. Low-birthweight babies, less than 2500 grams, has also increased to 7.6% of all births.
There has also been a general decline in teenage women giving birth from 7.8 per cent in 1981 to 2.8 per cent in 2015. The average age among women giving birth was 30.1 years. This has increased from 26.55 years in 1981 and peaked in 2012 at 30.21 years.
SA Health figures showed 666 teenagers became pregnant in 2013, compared to 937 a decade earlier.
The 20,263 births in 2013 were down 403 on year before. This is the first decrease since 2004. The average birth age is 29.8. Most births are in 30-34 age group, closely followed by 25-29. The 4,681 terminations were lowest since 1991.
Outstanding staff achievements, projects and innovations in health are highlighted in the annual South Australian Health Awards. Examples of award winners include:
• Central Adelaide Local Health Network rehabilitation at home program has reduced hospital stay times for acute patients with conditions such as stroke, neurological impairments, orthopaedic or amputations.
• Northern Adelaide Local Health Network diabetes service has introduced a patient-centred multidisciplinary clinical care delivery system that reduced outpatient waiting list by 95% in 12 months, improved access to appointments, early hospital discharge and avoided admission.
* Country Health SA and the University of South Australia collaborated to streamline the clinical intake for children by guiding clinicians to swiftly identify the child’s developmental needs via conversation. This resulted in a 57% cut in waiting times for early intervention services.
• A Royal Adelaide Hospital intensive care unit (ICU) project aims to reduce healthcare-associated infections, specifically blood stream infections. All ICU patients were washed with 2%t chlorhexidine gluconate washcloths and had intranasal mupirocin antibiotic ointment applied. BSIs reduced by 41%, equating to 4.5 lives saved over the year trial.
