ED doctors call for return of national health targets
Newshub reports:
Emergency doctors have drafted health targets of their own, and they want Minister Andrew Little to adopt them.
It comes as multiple deaths associated with ED wait times increase pressure on the Government.
We had a health target for ED waiting times – 95% seen and treated or transferred within six hours. And National got the number up from 70% to 94%. Now under Labour it is down to 76%.
Even worse in the Capital, where only 56% seen within six hours.
“If you don’t have a target in place, then there is no main aim. There is nothing you’re training your system towards to become a healthier system,” Australasian College of Emergency Medicine Deputy-Censor Dr Elspeth Frascatore told Newshub.
They’re called Hospital Access Targets.
They state for admissions, greater than or equal to 60 percent of patients should have a stay of no longer than four hours.
Eighty percent no longer than six hours and 90 percent no longer than eight hours.
And all patients should be through ED within 12 hours.
These sound reasonable and would be a huge improvement on the status quo. But the are still longer than what was previously achieved. I’d advocate:
- Four hours: 75%
- Six hours: 90%
- Eight hours: 95%
- 12 hours: 100%
The Labour Government scrapped National’s so-called “arbitrary” health targets back in 2017. It did introduce “indicators”, but ED wait times have still ballooned.
The Health Minister today rubbished suggestions the Government is opposed to health targets.
“We have measures in place for EDs who are required to achieve at a level of 95 percent. Either treating, discharging, admitting patients who go through ED within six hours,” Health Minister Andrew Little said.
But, in a puzzling twist, Little’s press secretary emailed Newshub research showing “targets don’t work”.
The Government relies on spin over substance. The Minister claims they support having health targets and his press secretary says they don’t work.