Healthy Queensland - Hospital waiting times
2020 Target: Shortest public hospital waiting times in Australia
Measure: median waiting time and percentage of patients seen within the clinically recommended time for elective surgery and emergency treatment (source: The State of our Public Hospitals Report, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing).
Lead agency: Queensland Health.
Current public hospital waiting times
Queensland had the shortest elective surgery waiting time performance in 2006-07.
The median waiting time for elective surgery was 25 days. This was better than the national average at 32 days and lower than all states and territories.
Almost 85% of patients received treatment within the clinically recommended timeframe. This was better than the national average, but behind New South Wales and Victoria.
But this good performance is not matched in Queensland's emergency departments.
The median waiting time for emergency treatment was 29 minutes, which is five minutes longer than the national average. Only 61% Queenslanders were seen within the clinically recommended emergency waiting time, below the national average.
Achievements since September 2007
- Exceeded elective surgery targets in the first six months of a new Surgery Connect initiative established to reduce the backlog of long-wait patients on elective surgery waiting lists.
- Opened a new emergency department at Robina Hospital, upgraded emergency departments at the Redcliffe and Redlands Hospitals, commenced work on an upgraded Bundaberg emergency department and allocated funding to upgrade the Cairns Hospital emergency department.
Challenges
Demand for services: the number of people admitted to Queensland hospitals is growing faster than our population. Growth in public admissions was 6% in 2007-08 compared to population growth of 2%.
Ageing population: our ageing population will need more care in the future. About a third of all hospital stays and half of hospital bed days are for people aged over 65 years.
Preventable diseases: hospitalisations for preventable diseases are forecast to increase dramatically in the future.
Achieving the target
While our elective surgery waiting times compare well to the rest of Australia, we must take action to maintain this performance and improve waiting times in our emergency departments.
The Queensland Government will play its part by:
- continuing to increase funding - already at record levels – for our public hospitals
- building and rebuilding hospitals throughout the state
- contracting the private sector to cut waiting lists to access public hospital services
- expanding the range of health services available in the home, workplace or community, so public hospitals can focus on those in most need
- encouraging Queenslanders to live healthier lifestyles, so they can avoid the need to be admitted to hospital.
We need the Australian Government to support our efforts, including by providing adequate GP services, to reduce the need for Queenslanders with minor ailments to attend public hospital emergency departments.
We need the community to contribute, too. This might be by adopting a healthier lifestyle or by accessing health services through GPs or community health services, so that emergency departments can concentrate on those with urgent needs.
We want your ideas on what can be done to ensure that in 2020, Queensland public hospital waiting times are the shortest in Australia.
Share your ideas
How can you lead a healthier lifestyle to avoid needing hospital care? Share your ideas
Last updated Monday, February 09, 2009
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