Emergency wait times nation’s worst

NORTHERN Territory emergency departments are consistently failing to hit wait time benchmarks, and remain some of the worst in the nation

NORTHERN Territory emergency departments are consistently failing to hit wait time benchmarks, and remain some of the worst in the nation.

Only 62 per cent of patients to present to Territory emergency departments in 2014/15 and whose need was classified as an “emergency” were seen within 10 minutes, compared to a national proportion of 79 per cent. The wait times for those emergency patients were the worst in the country.

Territory figures were similarly below the national average for patients classified as “urgent” and “semi-urgent”, in the report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

NT hospitals fared better in the “non-urgent” category, with 88 per cent of patients seen on time. The national figure was 92 per cent.

Just 60 per cent of all patients who presented to Territory emergency departments were seen on time, while nationally, that figure was 74 per cent.

The NT also had the lowest proportion of patients admitted or discharged within four hours of all Australian jurisdictions. Just 62 per cent of patients to Territory emergency departments had their care completed within the time frame.

In one bright spot for the NT, the report shows Territory hospitals outperformed those interstate for wait times for elective surgery. The median wait time for elective surgery in Territory public hospitals was 32 days, compared to a national median of 35 days.

The report shows government spending on Territory public hospitals increased significantly, from $640 million in 2013/14 to $796 million last financial year.

AIHW spokeswoman Jenny Hargreaves said growth in the private hospital sector was well outstripping that in the public sector.

“In the five years to 2014—15, the number of public hospital beds increased by an average of 1.1 per cent each year to 60,300 and private hospital beds increased by an average of 2.9 per cent to almost 32,000,” she said.

Children were the most likely to present to emergency departments, with kids under 4 accounting for 11 per cent of presentations