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Canberra Today 21°/24° | Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Patients go unseen as emergency targets miss the mark

CANBERRA emergency departments have not reached three out of five of its targets set around seeing patients on time, according to figures provided by Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith during Question Time yesterday (September 17). 

Out of the five categories, ACT emergency departments have not met the target in the “emergency” category, the “urgent” category and the “semi-urgent” category, however, it has exceeded its target in the “non-urgent” category by 1 per cent and stayed the same in the “resuscitation” category.

Per cent of patients seen on time in ACT emergency departments.

In the “emergency” category there’s been a drop of -5 per cent, with less than half of the target being achieved.

After seeing the figures, shadow health minister Vicki Dunne says the Barr government can’t be trusted to improve the ACT’s struggling emergency departments.

Vicki Dunne.

“For years, ACT Labor has been deceiving Canberrans about the performance of our emergency departments,” she says.

“They have fabricated evidence, rubbished the facts and peddled false promises to ‘future proof’ our hospitals.

“No amount of ducking and weaving can deny the fact that our emergency departments are in crisis.

“If Labor and the Greens cared about improving patient outcomes and helping our hard-working doctors, nurses and hospital staff, then they would make health a leading priority.”

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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