Cutting hospital length of stay times saves $79 million for Queensland hospitals Patient stay lengths in Queensland hospitals have been dramatically reduced to save money. QUEENSLAND'S largest public hospitals have saved about $79 million in the first five months of the year by cutting the average patient length of stay, documents show. Queensland Health figures reveal 21 of the state's biggest public hospitals have collectively recorded a 7.4 per cent reduction in the average patient stay between January and May this year, compared with the same period last year. ``When looking further back, the difference is 11 per cent over 2011 and 14 per cent over 2010," the documents reveal. The figures show a corresponding increase in the number of admitted patients of 6.5 per cent during the five months, which would have required an additional 430 beds, if the average length of a patient's stay had remained the same as a year ago. Queensland Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said that rather than increasing bed numbers, the changes had been brought about through improving hospital efficiency. ``You're discharging people on weekends when they're right to go home, rather than waiting for a consultant to come and see them on Tuesday morning," Mr Springborg said. ``I think it just goes to prove that there's a totally different way of delivering healthcare that respects the scarce resources of taxpayers. ``This is proof positive of the plans of this government and what it's actually delivering. The documents show the average length of a patient's stay dropped from more than three days in March 2009/10 to about 2.5 days in March this year. Queensland Nursing Union secretary Beth Mohle said she was concerned the reduction in the average patient length of stay was coinciding with nursing job cuts. ``Decreasing length of stay increases the intensity of work performed. That's the formula," she said. ``The more you decrease length of stay, the more you have to increase nursing numbers and increase the skill mix of nurses who are caring for those patients because they're sicker when they're in hospital for a shorter period of time." Australian Medical Association Queensland president Christian Rowan welcomed the Government's transparency on reporting around issues such as patient length of stay and admissions in public hospitals. Mr Springborg will be grilled at the annual Budget Estimates hearings at Parliament House today.