Hospital report released

THE performance of Queensland’s emergency departments could be worse than officially reported with a damning new report revealing hospitals are “cleansing” data and misusing short stay units to fudge wait times.

The report by Auditor General Brendan Worrell examining emergency department wait times found that staff were funnelling patients into short stay units, which “stops the clock” for ED access targets. A similar report in 2015 warned that hospitals were incorrectly using short stay units for emergency department overflow, and a recommendation to stamp the practice out has not been successful.

The Auditor General also said decision makers needed more accurate and more timely information and that there was a lack of data released to the public. Overall the report found that although there was increased demand for ED services more people were being treated within the recommended time frames.

“However, as a percentage of the entire patient population, their performance has been declining,” the report said.