Hospital wait times deteriorate further under Labor-Greens government

2022-23 annual reports for the ACT Health Directorate and Canberra Health Services show Canberra’s public hospital system in continued decline under Labor and the Greens, Shadow Health Minister, Leanne Castley said today.

“Emergency Department (ED) wait times are still woeful, meaning many patients have to wait in unacceptable pain.  Only 47.9 per cent of presentations spent less than four hours in ED, a deterioration from 52 per cent in 2021-22, as against a target of 90 per cent.

“Only 51 per cent of ED presentations were treated within clinically appropriate times frames compared to the target of 70 per cent.  This included 71 per cent of emergency, 38 per cent of urgent and 49 per cent of semi-urgent patients.”

Ms Castley also said Canberra Health Services fell way short on elective surgery targets, meaning that many patients were living in pain and discomfort, some with the fear of rapid deterioration to the point of becoming an emergency.

“The ACT delivered only 12,627 elective surgeries for public patients – 15 per cent short of its target of 14,800. 

“At the end of 2022-23 there were 2,161 patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for elective surgery - 5 times the target of 430, and 58 per cent higher than the 1,364 at the end of 2021-22.

“Only 84 per cent of urgent cases were admitted within 30 days as against a target of 100 per cent; 41 per cent of semi-urgent patients within 90 days as against a target of 80 per cent; and 61 per cent of non-urgent patients within 90 days as against a target of 93 per cent.

Ms Castley also drew attention to the fact that problems with recruiting and retaining radiation therapists for Canberra Health Services was having a huge impact on the provision of timely radiotherapy treatment for cancers.

“Only 93 per cent of emergency radiotherapy started within 48 Hours, against a 100 per cent target; 58 per cent of palliative treatment started within 2 weeks and 65 per cent of radical treatment started within 4 weeks, as against 90 per cent targets for both.

“Staff shortages are a recurring theme in these annual reports.  Overstretched frontline staff are doing their best to deliver quality care in a broken system.

“Again, a large number of strategic indicators are simply unavailable because Digital Health Record data reporting is still a fiasco,” Ms Castley concluded.