Queensland Health says the State’s ambulance waiting times have improved since July, despite a record number of patients seeking treatment.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services, Yvette D’Ath said the improvements were the result of a Government commitment to hiring more frontline health and ambulance workers, with extra funds available to tackle unprecedented demands on the health system.
Ms D’Ath said hospital performance data for July to September revealed presentations across the State’s emergency departments increased by seven per cent compared to the same period last year, outstripping population growth.
“During July, August and September, more than 628,000 people presented to an emergency department in Queensland,” she said.
“Despite this unprecedented demand, our health and ambulance workforce is rising to the challenge.
“The number of patients coming off stretcher within the recommended 30-minute timeframe increased, compared to the same period last year.”
The Minister said that, since May, there had been a 30 per cent reduction in ambulance wait times of more than two hours and a 30 per cent reduction in ambulance lost time minutes.
“Crucially, 100 per cent of Category One patients arriving to our hospitals were seen within the clinically recommended time of two minutes,” she said.
“While we welcome the improved performance, we’ll continue to work with all Hospital and Health Services and the Queensland Ambulance Service to further improve our performance as we prepare for the extra demand pressures we know will come when COVID-19 is moving throughout our State,” Ms D’Ath said.
