Queensland Government
Queensland Health
Queensland Government
Queensland Health
Health Services > Services by Hospital & Facility > Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service

Cairns Base Hospital

Cairns Base Hospital

Location

165 The Esplanade
Cairns Qld 4870

Contact Details

PO Box 902, Cairns Qld 4870 Phone: 07 4226 0000

Visiting Hours

Cairns Base Hospital provides community and specialist hospital services for Cairns and its immediate surroundings and is the major referral centre for Tropical North Queensland. Services include all major health specialties (medicine, surgery, women’s health, paediatrics and mental health) and more than 30 sub-specialties. The hospital also is a major provider of outreach specialist services to remote and rural areas, including:

The hospital has around 450 overnight beds.

In June 2002, a seven-year $130 million redevelopment program was completed at Cairns Base Hospital, substantially upgrading the health facilities and services available for Far Northerners.

The current $454 million Cairns Base Hospital redevelopment  will result in a bigger and better hospital for the region, with an additional 168 beds by 2015.

Emergency Department

In 2008, the Cairns Base Hospital Emergency Department treated 42,891 patients, compared with 39,460 patients in 2007. Patients presenting at emergency are given a triage rating based on the national triage scale:

  1. Resuscitation – Treat immediately
  2. Emergency – Treat within 10 minutes
  3. Urgent – Treat within 30 minutes
  4. Semi-urgent – Treat within 60 minutes
  5. Non-urgent – Treat within 120 minutes

Cairns Base Hospital’s Emergency Department generally meets these national benchmarks for the most urgent category. 100% of Category 1 patients are seen immediately. The national target for Category 2 is 80%; and currently around 79.6% are seen on time.

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Elective Surgery

Patients requiring elective surgery are categorised by the consultant at the public health care facility. For category 1 patients (with a condition that has the potential to deteriorate quickly, to the point that it may become an emergency), admission within 30 days is desirable. As at January 1, 2009, 61 category 1 patients at Cairns Base Hospital (56% of the total) had waited longer than this. For category 2 patients (with a condition causing some pain, dysfunction or disability, but which is not likely to deteriorate quickly or become an emergency) admission within 90 days is desirable. As at January 1, 2009, 269 patients (35%) on this list had waited longer. More information on elective surgery waiting lists can be found on the Queensland Health web site  

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Capital Developments

Service Developments

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Cairns Base Hospital Snapshot

In 2008, there were:

As at February 1, 2009 Cairns Base Hospital employed 2097 full, part-time and casual staff, including 233 doctors and 1101 nurses. 

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Last Updated: 09 April 2013
Last Reviewed: 09 April 2013



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