Record numbers add to Bankstown-Lidcombe’s emergency waiting times
Record numbers of patients seeking treatment at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital emergency department have helped to blow out waiting times.
The Express
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Staff at Bankstown Hospital’s emergency department have been treating record numbers of patients, resulting in a spike in the waiting period for April-June, with the flu season and the ageing population revealed as the main causes.
According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Health Information — which compares the second quarter of 2019 to the same period in 2018 — the average waiting times for emergency patients rose from 10 to 14 minutes, only 36.8 per cent being treated on time, down from 54.4 per cent.
Data shows 14,785 patients sought attention at the emergency department during this period, compared to 13,231, an extra 1521 patients, an 11.5 per cent increase.
Bankstown state Labor MP Tania Mihailuk said the hospital seemed unable to cope with the increasing numbers of patients and something needed to be done now, not in the future.
A Bankstown Hospital spokeswoman said the record number of patients in the first half of this year was because of the “ageing population, complexity of the care required and a rise in influenza presentations”.
She said plans for the $25 million redevelopment of the emergency department are under way while a new geriatric care program — which treats patients in nursing homes — could reduce the need for them to visit the ED.
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The government is also investing $1.3 billion to build a new Bankstown Hospital but no site has been picked.
Patients judged urgent had to wait 30 minutes compared to 22 minutes in 2018 with 50.7 per cent being treated on time, down from 67.9 per cent.
The waiting times also blew out for semi-urgent and non-urgent type of patients.
“We were promised a new emergency department, upgraded psychiatric care, more frontline staff and a new hospital, but all we’re seeing is increasing wait times for critically ill patients,” Ms Mihailuk said.
“Our community has consistently been short-changed and neglected by the Berejiklian Government.”
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The hospital spokeswoman stressed their staff are working ”incredibly hard as we continue to experience increased presentations … we are continuously reviewing our performance and models of care to improve waiting times.”
“Our elective surgery performance remained steady, with 98.6 per cent of the 1574
procedures for the April to June quarter performed on time,” she said.
She said the 2019-20 budget for South Western Sydney Local Health District, which runs six hospitals including Bankstown is $2 billion.