FOUR in five Canberrans requiring urgent medical attention at the Canberra Hospital emergency department are not seen on time, according to the Canberra Health Services Half Yearly Performance Report.

Shadow health minister Vicki Dunne says, in the financial year to December 2019, 80 per cent of urgent presentations to the Canberra Hospital’s emergency department were not seen on time.

Statistics presented on the report show that only 20 of the target 75 of urgent presentations to the emergency department were seen on time during this period, and only 30 out of the targeted 70 semi-urgent presentations were seen on time.

Over the past 19 years, Mrs Dunne says the Canberra Hospital has gone from having one of the top performing emergency departments in the country, to one of its worst.

“Canberra used to have one of the best performing emergency departments in the country,” she says.

“In 2001, more than 80 per cent of urgent patients were seen on time. But after 19 long years of a tired and lazy government, we now have the worst performing, yet most expensive, hospital in the country.

“Canberra cannot afford four more years of a health system in crisis.”

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