Nearly 50 per cent rise in sick strains hospital
Compared to the 2018 April to June quarter, an extra 1,558 patients sought help at Bankstown’s Emergency Department (ED), including a 47.7 per cent jump in the number of patients triaged in the non-urgent category, as well as 45.5 per cent jump in the most urgent ‘resuscitation’ presentations.
BHI chief executive Dr Diane Watson said EDs were once again busier than they were in the same quarter a year ago, “with more presentations overall and more patients arriving by ambulance”.
With the figures also showing that nearly two-thirds (63.2 per cent) of patients in the emergency triage category waited longer than the clinically recommended 10-minutes for treatment to start, Ms Mihailuk called for an immediate injection of resources into Bankstown Hospital.
“We were promised a new emergency department, upgraded psychiatric care, more frontline staff and a new hospital, but all we’re seeing is increasing wait times for critically ill patients,” she said.
“It’s time to prioritise patients – the Emergency Department is at capacity, wait times are through the roof and the carpark is forever full.”
On the back of an 8.2 per cent jump in ED presentations statewide compared with the same 2018 quarter, the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) also warned that the surge in patient numbers was putting medical staff and patient care under increased pressure.
NSWNMA assistant general secretary, Judith Kiejda, said the latest figures highlighted the growing risks to safe patient care and the urgent need for safe, transparent nurse-to-patient ratios.
“Our members are frustrated. They are fatigued. And they are burning out at a rapid rate,” she said.