BUNDABERG residents are typically waiting up to 54 minutes in the emergency department before receiving medical attention but the city's new hospital could change that.

Queensland Health data for May shows there were 4340 emergency department presentations at Bundaberg Hospital - a decrease of 1 per cent on the previous month.

About 72 per cent of patients were treated within the recommended timeframe.

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service chief executive Adrian Pennington said all of the most urgent ED patients were seen with the clinically recommended waiting time at Bundaberg Hospital's ED.

He said the ED's median waiting time of 54 minutes for category five patients - the least urgent - was well within the two-hour clinically-recommended waiting time for these patients.

"Our service is also putting together a business case for a new hospital at Bundaberg, which would include a new emergency department that would handle future growth in patient demand," Mr Pennington said.

Mr Pennington said category five patients would ease the strain on the hospital if they saw a GP instead.

"Category five patients are the least urgent patients seen by an emergency department and often could be seen by a general practitioner or another non-acute health service," Mr Pennington said.

"At peak times these patients may have to wait longer as we prioritise patients who are assessed as more urgent due to serious medical conditions."

Measuring the health of Bundaberg Hospital

BUNDABERG Hospital is leading the way on elective surgery waiting lists.

A special NewsRegional analysis of surgical data for 15 major hospitals in Queensland shows Bundaberg is one of the few Queensland hospitals that delivered all of its elective surgeries on time in the 12 months to March 31.

Surgeons performed 2346 elective operations with general surgery topping the list at 1245. Orthopedic operations were the second most common surgery at 648, gynaecology was third on 453.

Bundaberg patients can expect to wait up to 93 days for elective surgery.

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service chief executive Adrian Pennington said WBHHS aimed to meet clinically recommended waiting times as well as its "internal target" of treating all elective surgery patients within six months.

"This means we are now aiming to treat all category three - the least urgent - patients within half of the clinically recommended 365-day waiting time," Mr Pennington said.

"Our average waiting time for category three patients is currently 96 days in Bundaberg, which displays our commitment to short waiting times for elective surgery." - NewsRegional

BY THE NUMBERS

Statistics for Bundaberg Hospital

Maximum emergency department wait in April, 2018: 43 minutes

Emergency department presentations in April, 2018: 4038

Number of elective surgery operations in the 12 months to March 31: 2346

Source: Queensland Health