Page 971 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 May 2020
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MR GENTLEMAN: I certainly did not, Madam Speaker.
Hospitals—emergency department data
MRS JONES: My question is to the Minister for Health and refers to the ACT public health services quarterly performance report October to December 2019, which I note was many weeks late in being published. The figures show that there was an overall decline in ED presentations, including declines in categories 1, 3 and 4 across the board and declines in categories 1 to 4 at TCH. Minister, how do you account for this fall in ED presentations?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Jones for the question. I note that quarter 2 for this financial year, the last quarter of the calendar year 2019, came off the back of one of the busiest winter seasons that the hospital has seen, one of the busiest flu seasons. I think that accounts for the small decline. But you also need to take into account a comparison for the whole six-month period for the second half of 2019 with the second half of 2018. If you do that, you see overall presentations increase by 2½ per cent, and a significant increase in the complexity of ED presentations is clear. Presentations grew by more than 38 per cent for category 1, resuscitation; more than 18 per cent for category 2, emergency; and more than seven per cent for category 3, urgent. For category 4, there was a fall of almost four per cent. For category 5, non-urgent, presentations fell by more than 18 per cent.
Yes, between the two quarters that are reported in this quarterly performance report—because that is how the quarterly performance report is presented—there were slight falls. But when you take the bigger picture view about what the trend is over time and you take into consideration the fact that we were coming off an incredibly busy winter season, with the biggest flu season in 10 years, that accounts for that slight decrease from quarter to quarter.
MRS JONES: Why, despite the fall in ED presentations in that quarter, are only 27 per cent of category 3 patients receiving treatment on time?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: Obviously, the emergency department, in that quarter, was not where we would like it to be. That was the case for the whole of the second half of last year. As I said when the previous quarterly performance report was released, we know that Canberrans expect better, but I also said at that time that I would not expect to see a significant change for the quarter for which we have just released the report.
However, we know that we need to do more. That is why we invested in a 50 per cent expansion of Calvary’s emergency department treatment spaces, delivering 20 per cent more emergency department treatment space capacity across the territory. I am pleased to say that that project is nearing completion, and the treatment spaces and the new waiting areas are now open.
At Canberra Hospital, the increasing complexity of ED presentations over recent years that I have just talked about has had a significant impact on performance. A range of measures commenced in late February to improve ED performance. This
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