The Minns Labor Government will establish a new taskforce to tackle emergency department (ED) wait times.
The ED Taskforce comes off the back of the success of the Surgical Care Taskforce – established on the Health Minister’s first day in office – which has seen overdue surgeries more than halved.
The ED Taskforce will comprise of health workers and NSW Health officials, from across the state’s various local health districts and specialty networks, including from regional communities.
It will be tasked with identifying and implementing efficiencies, including initiatives to reduce unnecessary presentations; address bed block and improve patient flow; safely discharge patients more quickly; improve the experience of patients and staff in the ED; and move patients to parts of the system with more capacity where clinically appropriate.
The Minister for Health Ryan Park has instructed NSW Health to draft terms of reference; appoint membership of the taskforce; and set a first meeting date.
It comes after the release of two Australian Institute of Health & Welfare (AIHW) reports and the latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) quarterly results.
The two AIHW reports show that over 2022-23, NSW reported:
- the highest number of ED presentations of any state or territory in Australia (3 million)
- the highest proportion of presentations seen on time in Australia (74 per cent)
- the second-highest proportion of planned surgeries completed within clinically recommended timeframes (77.3 per cent).
The latest BHI data for the September quarter shows:
- a record number of triage 2 category (emergency) presentations (118,772)
- a 61 per cent reduction in the number of overdue surgeries compared to September 2022.
A significant factor in the record demand on hospitals is the proportion of cases that could be treated in primary or aged care settings.
Almost half of all presentations to EDs were either category 4 (e.g. sprained ankle, earache) or category 5 (e.g. small cuts or abrasions).
A further BHI report on patient experiences in small rural hospitals shows that 45 per cent of patients felt they could have been treated by a GP or other health professional.
This will remain a focus of the ED Taskforce.
The NSW Government is also embracing a suite of innovative initiatives to divert unnecessary presentations to hospitals and relieve pressure on GPs.
This includes rolling out 25 urgent care services across the state; empowering pharmacists to prescribe certain medications; increasing the use of virtual care; and making it easier for doctors in regional health districts to work in both GP and hospital settings.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health, Ryan Park:
“This Emergency Department Taskforce is the latest initiative in our suite of measures to improve wait times and access to care, including supporting and boosting our workforce; and embracing innovating initiatives to divert pressure from our hospitals.
“We won’t undo 12 years of underinvestment in our health system overnight, but I can assure staff and the community that seismic structural reforms are underway to turn things around.
“Patients just want to receive the care they need and deserve in a timely manner.
“Having people and their loved ones waiting around in our hospitals for lengthy periods of time is neither good for them, nor our staff, nor other patients.
“I’ve made it a ministerial priority of mine that where we can safely improve access to care and treatment – including timeliness – we will do it.
“I’m proud of our healthcare workers across NSW who have faced serious challenges over the past couple of years but continue to show professionalism amidst record presentations and demand on our health system.”
Quotes attributable to NSW Health Deputy Secretary Adjunct Professor Matthew Daly:
“NSW public hospitals were recognised as the best in the country on performance in emergency departments in 2022-23, ensuring patients continued to receive high-quality care during periods of sustained high demand.
“Planned surgery performance also continued to improve across NSW, with the state achieving the second highest result nationally for the proportion of planned surgeries completed within clinically recommended timeframes.
“We thank our outstanding healthcare workers who performed exceptionally well throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and we remain committed to further improving patient health outcomes and experiences in our hospitals.”
