EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Can the minister inform the house about extra resources that have been provided to support faster treatment times in the emergency departments of major metropolitan hospitals?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:48): I thank the member for Torrens for her question and acknowledge her very strong interest in health issues and her strong advocacy on behalf of her community. In 2010-11, $111 million was provided over four years to support faster treatment times in our metropolitan emergency departments. With the addition of commonwealth funds from 2008-09, this amount increases to more than $172 million over the period to 2013-14. Hospitals have a target, supported by both the state and commonwealth governments, to see, treat, admit to a ward bed or discharge within four hours 90 per cent of all patients who present to public hospital emergency departments.

In 2011-12, $47.4 million of this funding is being distributed to support better flow of patients through busy emergency departments. These funds are supporting initiatives such as acute medical units where the very ill can receive specialist treatment, see and treat clinics where nurses provide treatment to patients with lower level injuries and illnesses, senior consultants and staff to discharge patients on weekends and patient flow coordinators to monitor the flow of patients through the emergency department and hospital.

There are also discharge lounges to free up the beds of patients ready to go home, more mental health staff to respond to demand and reduce presentations and waiting times in emergency departments, and extended care paramedics to treat patients in their own homes and reduce the attendances to hospitals. So, a lot of work has been done. What has it achieved?

While we have a way to go to reach the four-hour target, we are currently sitting at 64 per cent to April 2012. We have seen some terrific results in other areas. We have recently included major country hospitals in our data collections to bring us into line with other states, such as Western Australia and Victoria. So we are now finally comparing apples with apples.

With this extra information included, the median wait time to service delivery across those hospitals that are included currently sits at 16 minutes to April 2012; that is, 50 per cent of patients are seen in the emergency department within 16 minutes. That compares to 20 minutes in 2010-11, which was at the time the best result ever achieved in our state and the second best in the nation.

The 90^th percentile waiting time is now, at April 2012, 91 minutes. That compares to 104 minutes in 2010-11, which was the best in Australia and 10 minutes below the national average. So, we have improved even more. The percentage of people seen on time is 76 per cent to April 2012, compared to 71 per cent in 2010-11, which was equal second best in the nation and a huge improvement on the 61 per cent in 2007-08. So there are big improvements right across the areas which we measure in the emergency department. These are outstanding achievements and a real credit to the many people who work in our hospital emergency departments. This also—

Mr Hamilton-Smith: How's your four hours again, John?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I would invite the member for Waite to get the call and ask me a question. I would be delighted to answer his question. If he was listening to the answer I gave, he would have known that I addressed that very interjection he asked. Madam Speaker, these are outstanding achievements and a real credit to the many people who work in our emergency departments. It also demonstrates the continued statewide improvement in turnaround times for people who need emergency treatment.

Members of the public, the media and members here would know from debate in the media of late that there is more to be done about moving patients out of emergency departments and through the hospitals. This is an issue we are addressing and, despite the interjections from those opposite, it is a project we are very committed to improving.