Shock figures show emergency patients spend a day waiting

Hundreds of patients every month are spending more than 24 hours in Queensland emergency departments before they are discharged or admitted as an inpatient to hospital, figures show.

Hundreds of patients every month are spending more than 24 hours in Queensland emergency departments before they are discharged or admitted as an inpatient to hospital.

New figures have revealed there were 1986 patients in June as well as 2068 patients in July this year who spent literally a whole day or more in the ED in the state’s 26 biggest hospitals.

There were also 1616 patients in August and 1309 patients in September who had ED stays of 24 hours or more – making a total of 6979 patients over the four-month period.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has defended the figures by pointing out that ED stays of 24 hours or longer only represent a “small fraction” of all ED presentations across the state.

But she would not say how these latest figures between June and September this year compared to the same period in 2021, 2020, and 2019 – or if there had been an upwards or downwards trend.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Yvette D'Ath. Picture: Liam Kidston

The figures were uncovered in a new parliamentary question on notice, where Ms D’Ath insisted that patients were monitored by clinical staff when they had wait times in the ED of more than 24 hours.

At Hervey Bay Hospital, there were 293 patients in July who were in the emergency department for more than 24 hours before they were discharged or admitted as an inpatient.

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There were also 256 patients at the Redland Hospital and 131 patients at Gold Coast University Hospital with ED stays of 24 hours or longer in June.

And in Ipswich, there were 159 patients in June who were in the ED for more than 24 hours before they were discharged or admitted, as well as 202 patients at Logan Hospital in July.

“A patient may stay for 24 hours within the ED for a number of reasons,” Ms D’Ath said. “This may include patients with volatile clinical status requiring repeated adjustments to treatment interventions and clinical decision making around ongoing care needs and most appropriate disposition.

“There may be other factors including the requirement for a specific type of bed for example telemetry, negative pressure, isolation or mental health.”

Hervey Bay Hospital.

Ms D’Ath said the government’s hospitals and expansion projects would deliver more than 2500 extra beds that would enable better flow of patients through EDs and free up ED capacity.

Ms D’Ath also said Queensland was performing better than any other jurisdiction at getting patients transferred from the ED into hospital beds, according to the Australian College of Emergency Medicine. “Queensland Health continued to meet the national standards for median ED wait times of 17 minutes across all five presentation categories in the September quarter,” she said.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the figures showed the health system was in crisis.

“They are a result of the Palaszczuk government failing to plan and act for nearly eight years,” he said.

“The Premier and her Health Minister must start listening to our solutions or more Queenslanders will find themselves waiting more than a day just to find a bed in a ward.

“Queenslanders deserve so much better.”