Emergency departments—Wait times
218. Hon Dr Brian Walker to the parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:
I refer the minister to the recent Productivity Commission report that suggested that WA has the nation's worst wait times for urgent presentations to public hospital emergency departments. I heard from one constituent who recently waited six hours in a private ED here in Perth, at least in part because of an overflow from a neighbouring public hospital.
(1) What is the clinically recommended timeframe for a patient to be seen in a public ED here in WA?
(2) What percentage of patients presenting at our public emergency departments are currently being seen within that timeframe?
(3) Does the government recognise the concerns raised by a spokesperson for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine WA, who has argued that patients are waiting much longer than the college would consider safe and that the situation is both demoralising and poses risks?
Hon Pierre Yang replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following has been provided by the Minister for Health.
(1)–(3) Clinically recommended timeframes for the commencement of medical treatment vary and are outlined in the Australasian Triage Scale. WA Health aims to provide high-quality clinical care to the community of Western Australia. WA Health clinicians are highly skilled at ensuring patients receive the care they need urgently.
