Western Health’s annual report has revealed 34 patients were left waiting in Footscray Hospital’s emergency department for longer than 24 hours during the past year.
The hospital’s emergency departments are not performing to an acceptable standard, the report found, with cuts to waiting times, the delivery of “consistent care” and the need for better facilities identified as key goals following six months of consultation.
Footscray hospital fell well below two performance benchmarks in its emergency department, with only 47.7 per cent of emergency patients at Footscray hospital being admitted, referred to another hospital or discharged within four hours – well below the 81 per cent target.
The figure slips even further below 2012 and 2013 results, where 49 per cent of patients were admitted to hospital or discharged within four hours, and retains the unwelcome status of the worst results in the state and second-worst rate in Australia.
Only 72.9 per cent of patients were seen within recommended times, falling short of the 80 per cent target.
WH believes it needs to “better match services to the diverse needs of our community” after 120 hours of one-on-one interviews, meetings and focus groups gleaned feedback from more than 1000 people.
“As a health service, we are already gearing up for a major focus on providing timely care in our emergency departments,” the report found.
“Tackling this very difficult problem will be a key priority for the entire organisation over the coming year.”
Crumbling emergency departments
WH serves a population of 800,000, which is expected to pass one million within a decade.
It has been pushing for a $550 million redevelopment of its crumbling emergency departments and other outdated infrastructure at Footscray and Sunshine hospitals, including almost doubling the number of emergency department beds at Footscray to 59.
Footscray MP Marsha Thomson said the Health and Human Services Department was working with Western Health on strategies to improve emergency access and patient care at Footscray Hospital.
However, western suburbs Greens MP Colleen Hartland said results would only get worse as the population grew.
with Ben Cameron
