Real-time hospital data fail: Emergency wait times unchanged for months

The state government’s highly spruiked real-time data website has failed to budge emergency department wait times, sparking concerns it’s not an accurate reflection of patient experience.

There are concerns the state’s real-time data is not an accurate reflection.

Emergency department waiting times haven’t budged since the introduction of the Queensland Government’s real-time hospital data website three months ago, reigniting concerns it is not an accurate reflection of patient experience.

It can be revealed only 70,000 Queenslanders have viewed the much-anticipated Open Hospitals website since its launch in February, which was pitched to improve transparency and help reduce wait times.

This equates to approximately 23,333 people viewing the site each month.

But Australian Medical Association Queensland president Nick Yim said the portal still “had a long way to go” and would not achieve its intended uptake if its fundamental issues were not addressed.

“We need to see useful, real-time data that reflects the reality of the patient experience – including an accurate representation of the wait times to be assessed and admitted and the number of patients waiting,” Dr Yim said.

“It’s clear the portal will not achieve its intended uptake if this data does not accurately reflect patients’ experiences.”

Australian Medical Association union president, Dr Nick Yim. Picture: Russell Shakespeare.

David Crisafulli, as Opposition Leader, had promised to publish real-time hospital data as one of his key election promises.

The most recent Queensland Performance Health Data shows wait times inside EDs did not change between October and February, sitting at an average 14 minutes.

Within the first month of the website being live, this increased to 15 minutes.

From the beginning of the year until end of February 385,780 patients presented to Queensland emergency departments.

The government announced the Open Hospitals website in February, where Queenslanders could check the median wait times, number of patients waiting, and number of treatment spaces at 25 health facilities – with the data updated every 15 to 30 minutes.

The accuracy of the date has previously been met with criticism, with frontline health workers experiencing more violence across EDs as patients become frustrated over wait times that are different to what is reported.

While the AMAQ supported the idea of the portal, Dr Yim said doctors were still reporting these incidents of violence three months on.

Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union Secretary Sarah Beaman said their members had reported inconsistencies in the wait times available online.

“While the QNMU supports the principal of transparent, real-time data reporting across (Queensland Health) hospitals and health services, we are concerned about incidents of verbal abuse and patient aggression directly linked to unrealistic expectations created by the Open Hospitals data. The QNMU has conveyed these concerns to (Queensland Health),” Ms Beaman said.

A Queensland Health spokesman said they were continuing to work hard to decrease wait times in emergency departments.

“We launched Open hospital’s this year to provide more transparency on how our hospitals are performing, however we have made it very clear that it should be used as a guide only and not be relied upon in an emergency or life-threatening situation.”

The government is expected to release its March performance data by the end of this month.

Originally published as Real-time hospital data fail: Emergency wait times unchanged for months