Average wait time of 14 hours for patients to be admitted at NT emergency depts: NT Health data

NT Health data shows the shocking average wait time for a bed across the Territory’s emergency departments due to wards being completely full.

PEOPLE on average are waiting almost 14 hours across Territory emergency departments for a bed because wards are completely full, data from NT Health has revealed.

The data provided by NT Health from 2019/2020 tells a story of patients requiring hospital care that can’t move through the system because of a lack of staffing and beds.

Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Dr John Bonning said some patients were waiting days in the emergency department because doctors could not find a bed for them on a ward.

The comments come after NT News exposed the Territory health system was in crisis, which was sparked by RDH’s fourth code yellow this year. “I know for a fact at the Royal Darwin Hospital you have a significant number of patients in beds on wards, who need to be discharged, but there is no residential aged care facility or NDIS facility for them to go to,” Dr Bonning said.

He said some of these patients were admitted for months, which then blocked between 10 to 15 acute beds.

Dr Bonning said there needed to be long term investment in more staffed beds. He said mental health required at least 20 extra inpatient beds and the hospital needed a further 50 extra acute hospital beds.

He also said the hospital executive needed to take responsibility for the crisis and immediately recruit at least 50 full time nurses.

Some patients are waiting days for a bed at the RDH emergency department, according to a medical expert. Picture: Chris Pavlich

Dr Bonning said it was difficult to recruit for mental health, intensive care and perioperative nurses but they were desperately needed to fill the current roster, which was a “real crisis”.

In addition at least 30 NDIS or aged care patients currently in Royal Darwin Hospital need to be accommodated out of the hospital into appropriate community care facilities.

The NT News has asked the Department of Health for a breakdown of current elective surgery wait times and emergency data by specialties. This data is nationally reportable but despite four requests by NT News it has not been provided.

Further data would highlight the resourcing challenges facing specific areas of the hospital for example ICU, neurology, oncology and radiology. Dr Bonning said closing down clinics and elective surgeries would inevitably lead to people becoming more unwell and requiring more urgent care in the long run. “Calling a code yellow solves an immediate problem but creates a bigger one down the track,” he said.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the NT government was working closely with the commonwealth to transfer more aged care patients out of the hospital system, adding that “aged care services are the responsibility of the federal government”.

“The Territory Labor government is on track to hire an additional 40 nurses in the coming fortnight,” she said.

“We are working to fill nursing positions primarily across mental health, emergency department and perioperative fields.