That’s the healthy picture painted by NSW Bureau of Health Information data released on Friday.

It comes despite cutbacks in theatre times and number of procedures earlier this year.

The statistics show the local facility treated 98 per cent of patients who required surgery within 30 days, 99pc who needed operations within 90 days and 95pc of patients who had to be admitted within one year.

In its peer group of hospitals, which also included Armidale, Bathurst and Griffith, it was one of the better performing facilities when it came to elective surgery.

Surgeons performed 430 procedures between July and September this year, including 124 urgent, 92 semi-urgent and 214 non-urgent cases.

Eastern Sector acting general manager Karen Lenihan said the report highlighted a good performance for elective surgery.

“Goulburn Base Hospital conducted 87 more elective procedures compared to the same period last year, an increase of 25pc,” Ms Lenihan said.

“In particular this included 43pc more urgent elective surgery patients who live in Goulburn and the surrounding communities.”

“Goulburn has a good track record for treating surgical patients within their clinically recommended timeframes, reflecting the hard work of clinical staff and medical officers to treat patients as quickly as possible,” she said.

But last March a leaked NSW Opposition document revealed average waiting times for elective surgery at Goulburn Base had blown out. Ophthalmology (eye) patients were waiting nine months for surgery, up from five months the year before.

At the time, eye surgeon Dr Iain Dunlop attributed this to a one-third cutback in his theatre time. However, of the 161 patients on the ophthalmology register, no one was waiting more than 12 months. Other surgery categories, such as orthopaedic, showed an increase in waiting time from nine to 11 months.

Only three people waited more than 12 months, according to the documents. Goulburn Base has not fared so well in emergency department treatment, according to the Bureau. Medical staff treated 100pc of immediately life threatening cases presenting at the department but 70pc of imminently life threatening conditions within the required 10 minutes. The target is 80pc.

Other data revealed:

* 59pc of potentially life threatening cases were treated within the required 30 minutes. The target is 75pc.

* 67pc of potentially serious cases were treated within the required one hour. The target is 70pc.

* 90pc of less urgent cases were treated in 120 minutes. The target is 70pc.

The report showed a busy emergency department, with 4473 patients presenting between July and September.

Some 778 of these arrived by ambulance and 82pc were transferred off stretcher within 30 minutes, just below the 90pc target. The hospital has struggled with a small emergency department for years. However, $800,000 of a $1.8 million Federal Government grant to the hospital last month is being channelled into an upgrade.

It will include three more beds, a larger staff station and improved layout, a new office for the department’s nurse unit manager, a separate resuscitation bay, a new safe assessment room, improved security and relocation of the medical imaging waiting room.

Ms Lenihan did not comment specifically on whether the cramped emergency department had contributed to the waiting times. But she said the upgrade had started.

“The changes will mean that staff can observe patients better and more readily provide treatment and care,” she said.

The Bureau’s chief executive Dr Diane Watson said the second issue of Hospital Quarterly showed increased activity across elective surgery, admitted patient episodes and emergency department attendances in the State’s public hospitals.