ACT public hospital waiting times and timeliness in emergency departments have continued to improve during the past six months despite record numbers of presentations, according to the latest ACT Health Services Quarterly Performance Report.
Minister for Health Simon Corbell said the performance report showed the ACT Government was committed to providing quality healthcare services to Canberrans.
“Despite significant increases in presentations to our emergency departments our waiting times for treatment improved by 4 per cent compared with the previous corresponding period,” Mr Corbell said.
“At the same time we have reduced our overall median waiting time in our emergency departments from 43 minutes in the first half of 2014-15 to 39 minutes in the corresponding period in 2015-16.
“The report shows demand in our emergency departments increased by 2.5% to 67,236 presentations in the first half of 2015-16. In addition, the number of admissions to hospital via emergency departments increased by 6% to 19,165.
“While it is pleasing to see this improvement in timeliness, the government expects to see further improvements through workplace reform and infrastructure investments like the $23 million expansion to Canberra Hospital’s Emergency Department.”
The first stage of the emergency department expansion opened in January.
When completed the project will deliver up to 21 additional treatment spaces, additional ambulance bays and an improved layout that will help to reduce waiting times further.
The expansion of the Canberra Hospital Emergency Department is part of the Health Infrastructure Program, which has invested nearly $1 billion in health infrastructure since 2009.
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