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The MyHospitals website is moving on 31 March 2020

Don’t worry – from December 11 2019 you can find the latest information about your local area on the MyHospitals webpages on the AIHW website, along with many more reports and data on a range of health and welfare topics.

In some cases, the way you find information has changed. If you need help finding anything, please contact the AIHW.

Once the website has moved, you will be able to access old archived versions of the previously published data through Trove, the National Library of Australia’s web archive. Please note the interactive content will not work in the archived version.

More than 500 beds
This is a public hospital

St George Hospital NSW

Major hospital with an emergency department

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Financial performance

Average cost of care in public hospitals

The data presented in this section can provide insights into the efficiency of Australia’s largest public hospitals by comparing the costs they incur while providing care to acute admitted patients. A hospital is considered more efficient if it is able to deliver more services while consuming fewer resources. Measuring hospital costs against a measure of hospital output for a given service can indicate how efficient hospitals are compared to other similar hospitals.

The National Weighted Activity Unit (NWAU) was developed by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA) as part of setting the National Efficient Price (NEP) of public hospital services. The NWAU allows different hospital activities to be expressed as a common unit of activity, by accounting for differences in the complexity of patients’ conditions or procedures and legitimate increases in costs. The notional ‘average’ hospital service is worth one NWAU.

Cost per National Weighted Activity Unit (NWAU) is a measure focusing on acute admitted patients whose treatment is eligible for Activity Based Funding. Therefore, the measure does not include any Emergency Department costs prior to a patient’s admission or costs relating to hospital services which are funded by other Commonwealth programmes, such as the Department of Veterans’ Affairs or other sources such as motor vehicle accident insurance, workers’ compensation or public liability damage claims. More about the measure, cost per NWAU.

Cost per NWAU

In 2014–15, the cost per NWAU at this hospital was $4,300, and the total NWAU was 54,830. This result compares to a peer average for cost per NWAU of $4,680. The results include private patients in public hospitals, where 29% of the patients were privately funded.

Year Cost per NWAU (adjusted for inflation)* Peer average
cost per NWAU (adjusted for inflation)*		 Total NWAU* Percentage of private patients
* Data for all published years is classified by a single version of the AR–DRG codes (Version 8.0) and National Efficient Pricing Determination (2017–18, NEP17).
2014–15 $4,300 $4,680 54,830 29%
2013–14 $4,300 $4,730 53,771 27%
2012–13 $4,400 $4,730 50,519 25%

* Data for all published years is classified by a single version of the AR–DRG codes (Version 8.0) and National Efficient Pricing Determination (2017–18, NEP17).

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To view the latest cash funding provided by the National Health Funding Body see the Public Hospital Funding report for this hospital’s Local Hospital NetworkExternal link, opens in a new window.[https://reports.publichospitalfunding.gov.au/reports/latest-local-hospital-network?lhnid=nswseslhd].

Comparable Cost of Care is a measure developed by the National Health Performance Authority to assess the relative efficiency of Australia’s largest public hospitals by focusing on the comparable costs of acute admitted patients. It measures the average cost of a unit of activity for acute admitted patients, but unlike the cost per NWAU, it includes costs associated with the care provided in Emergency Departments prior to admission.

Additionally, Comparable Cost of Care includes patients whose treatment is not eligible for funding under the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) through Activity Based Funding, such as patients covered by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs or motor vehicle accident and workers’ compensation schemes. More about the measure, Comparable Cost of Care.

Comparable Cost of Care

In 2011–12, the Comparable Cost of Care at this hospital was $5,000, and the total units of activity were 54,978. This result compares to a peer average for Comparable Cost of Care of $4,900.

Year Comparable Cost of Care Peer average
Comparable Cost of Care		 Total units of activity
2011–12 $5,000 $4,900 54,978
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