STATE governments say they are committed to reducing waiting times at hospital emergency departments, but the future of targets meant to limit delays in treatment are in doubt.
The NSW government has announced it will ignore the target of dealing with 90 per cent of patients within four hours after the federal government withdrew reward payments in last year’s budget, instead reverting to last year’s target of 81 per cent.
NSW currently ranks in the middle of the pack of the states, processing 74 per cent of patients within the benchmark time, according to Australian hospital statistics.
Queensland is studying whether the current target of treating 90 per cent within four hours is appropriate. A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said the four-hour target had the potential to produce perverse results, with patients close to the four-hour mark being treated ahead of someone in greater need.
He said a study into the four-hour target had highlighted how many patients were treated just short of the deadline. “Obviously all the states are keen to have a measure which doesn’t produce those perverse results,’’ he said.
“That’s the sort of thing that concerns the ministers. When the funding is all based around that, we have to come up with something better. We have to come up with something based on quality outcomes.”
The federal government is in the process of reforming the way it measures hospital performance. In April last year, federal, state and territory health ministers for the first time agreed on a mechanism for judging poor performance in public hospitals.
Using several benchmarks for infections, elective surgery and emergency response times — category-one cases were excluded — ministers agreed to have the National Health Performance Authority report on poor performance and peer group performance from this year.
However, the extent of the cuts and changes in the Abbott government’s first budget prompted ministers in October to defer the work on poor performance indefinitely.
NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner noted her state’s performance had improved from seeing only 59 per cent of patients within the time limit.
Other states say they are still committed to the 90 per cent target, despite the withdrawal of funding. A spokeswoman for Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy said: “We are disappointed that the Abbott Liberal government has walked away from a national target and withdrawn funding that would reduce the length of time Victorians have to wait.”
Source: The Australian