St John of God Murdoch Hospital gives kids their hearing back
November 5, 2021
BISHOP BILL WRIGHT
November 15, 2021
The Australian Medical Association has released its latest report on the performance of public hospitals. The report finds that while overall availability of beds in public hospitals has remained stable in recent years, the downward trend in beds available as a proportion of the number of Australians aged over 65 continues.
Emergency department activity dropped slightly (by 1.4%), reversing a recent trend towards annual increases. This is attributed to a significant fall in emergency presentations resulting from public health restrictions over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic (for example, reductions in community sport have led to reductions in injuries). There was a 4% improvement in the number of urgent presentations seen within 30 minutes (the key metric for being seen ‘on time’), which was in part explained by the fall in presentations and other hospital admissions.
The proportion of patients in emergency departments treated and discharged (to any setting) within 4 hours continued the decline that has been ongoing since 2014–15, falling by 1%.
People aged over 65 are significantly more likely to be admitted to hospital and require a bed, and once in hospital are likely to occupy that bed for longer. One key finding is that the lack of suitable and/or safe discharge destinations for elderly patients is contributing to a backlog of occupied ward beds. This in turn reduces bed availability. That impacts emergency department capacity due to restricted capability to discharge patients to wards after their acute care needs have been met. This is significant, as approximately a third of emergency department presentations will require an admittance.
The report also highlights disparities in treatment capacity across Australia’s states and territories. Read the full report here.
