Gulargambone Multi Purpose Service

An ED presentation occurs following the arrival of the patient at the ED and commences at the point of being registered or triaged. Triage is the process during which a health professional assesses the urgency of the care needs, including assigning one of five urgency categories to the health record.

Explore the data

Explore the number of presentations to Australia’s public hospital EDs in 2022–23 and for recent years in the data visualisation below.

Information is presented by the following patient characteristics:

• age and sex (as recorded in the data)
• Indigenous status
• the remoteness of the patient's residential address
• the socioeconomic status of the area that the patient lives in.

The data can also be explored by:

• state and territory
• hospital peer group
• local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
• hospital (where data is available).

Highlights

In 2022–23:

• there were 8.80 million presentations to emergency departments in Australia – a rate of 334 per 1,000 population
• most ED presentations were to Principal referral and women’s and children’s and Public acute group A hospitals (71%, combined).

Emergency presentations have increased over the last five years, from 8.35 million in 2018–19 to 8.80 million in 2022–23, representing an average annual increase of 1.3% per year. However the number of presentations fluctuated during the years that were affected by COVID, decreasing in 2019–20, increasing in 2020–21 and decreasing again 2021–22.

Presentations to Public acute group C hospitals have increased the most (3.9% per year since 2018–19).

Age and sex

• In 2022–23, while, overall, males accounted for 49% of all ED presentations and females accounted for 51%, there were differences across age groups. In age groups under 15 years, a higher proportion of presentations were for males, but for age groups between 15 to 44 years and 85 years and over, most presentations were for females. In the age groups between 45 and 84 years, presentations were more evenly split between males and females. 
• For both males and females, the highest rates of presentation per 1,000 population were for patients aged 85 or over – 941presentations per 1,000 population for males, and 764 per 1,000 population for females.
• The second highest presentation rates for both males and females were seen in  patients aged 4 and under – who presented at EDs at a rate of 707 per 1,000 population for males and 592 per 1,000 population for females. 
• While ED presentation rates were highest in the very young and very old age groups, 44% of all ED presentations were for people aged between 25 and 64. 

Indigenous status

• Overall, 8.4% of ED presentations were for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (who make up 3.8% of the Australian population).
• Across all age groups, the presentation rates per 1,000 population were greater for First Nations people compared to Other Australians. The largest difference was for people aged 40–44 where the presentation rate was 980 per 1,000 population for First Nations people and 256 per 1,000 population for Other Australians.  

Remoteness area of usual residence 

• People living in Major cities (who make up 72% of the Australian population), accounted for 62% of ED presentations – 294 presentations per 1,000 people. 
• People living in Remote and Very remote areas (who make up 1.9% of the population) accounted for 3.6% of presentations.
• Information on presentation rates should be interpreted with caution as the scope of the ED data collection is ‘formal’ EDs that meet specific criteria and may not be evenly accessible to people across all geographic areas. 

Socioeconomic status of area of usual residence

• People living in the lowest socioeconomic (most disadvantaged) areas were most likely to visit an ED, accounting for 24% of ED presentations (410 presentations per 1,000 people). This was followed by people who lived in areas classified as being in the second lowest socioeconomic position – who presented at a rate of 386 presentations per 1,000 population. 
• People living in the highest socioeconomic (least disadvantaged) areas were least likely to visit an ED. They accounted for 14% of all ED presentations (233 presentations per 1,000 people).

Emergency department (ED) waiting time is the time elapsed for each patient from presentation in the ED to commencement of clinical care.

A patient is considered to have been 'seen on time' when the time between arrival at the ED and the time that their clinical care starts is within the time specified in the definition of the triage category they are assigned:

• Resuscitation: Immediate (within seconds)
• Emergency: within 10 minutes
• Urgent: within 30 minutes
• Semi-urgent: within 60 minutes
• Non-urgent: within 120 minutes.

Explore the data

The data visualisation below presents the following emergency department waiting time statistics by triage category:

• proportion seen on time
• 50th percentile (median) waiting time (half of all people waited less than this time)
• 90th percentile waiting time (90% of people waited less than this time).

In addition to the national data, the data can also be explored for recent years by:

• state and territory
• hospital (where data is available)
• local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available).

Highlights

Over the last five years, the proportion of patients ‘seen on time’ has decreased and the time in which 90% of presentations were seen has increased.

In 2022–23: 

• the proportion of patients ‘seen on time’ was 65%, down from 67% in 2021–22 and from 71% in 2018–19
• Principal referral and Women’s and children’s hospitals and Public acute group A hospitals had the lowest overall proportion of presentations ‘seen on time’ (61%), and Other hospitals had the highest proportion (92%)
• 50% of patients were seen within 20 minutes, consistent with the previous year and higher than the preceding three years
• the time within which 90% of presentations were seen was 2 hours and 4 minutes, an increase from 1 hour and 40 minutes in 2018–19.

An emergency department (ED) stay is the period between a patient presenting at an ED, and when that person is recorded as having physically departed the ED (regardless of whether they were admitted, referred, discharged or left at their own risk).

Explore the data

The data visualisation below presents the following measures related to time spent in the emergency department:

• proportion of patients with a length of stay of 4 hours or less
• 50th percentile (median) time spent in the ED (half of all people waited less than this time)
• 90th percentile time spent in the ED (90% of people waited less than this time).

The data is presented by:

• state and territory
• admission status
• triage category
• peer group.

The data can also be explored by:

• trends over time
• local Hospital Network (LHN) (where data is available)
• hospital (where data is available).

Highlights

Nationally, over the last five years, the time in which 90% of presentations were completed has increased, and the proportion of presentations completed within 4 hours has decreased. 

In 2022–23:

• 50% of ED presentations were completed within 3 hours and 39 minutes, which is around 41 minutes longer than in 2018–19 (2 hours, 58 minutes)  
• the time in which 50% of patients completed their ED care was longer for patients who were subsequently admitted to the hospital (6 hours, 4 minutes) than for patients who were not admitted (3 hours, 4 minutes)
• 90% of ED presentations were completed within 10 hours and 32 minutes which is just over 3 hours longer than in 2018–19 (7 hours, 29 minutes)
• the time in which 90% of patients completed their ED care was longer for patients who were subsequently admitted to the hospital (18 hours, 23 minutes) than for patients who were not admitted (7 hours, 19 minutes)
• 56% of patients who presented to ED had their care completed within 4 hours compared to 61% in 2021–22 and 70% in 2018–19
• for patients subsequently admitted to the same hospital, one-third (31%) of ED presentations were completed within 4 hours
• for patients not subsequently admitted, two-thirds (66%) of ED presentations were completed within 4 hours
• 79% of ED presentations occurred between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.

What is SABSI?

Staphylococcus aureus (also known as golden staph or S. aureus) is a usually harmless bacteria commonly found inside the nose and on the skin. However, if the bacteria enters the bloodstream a Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (SABSI) can occur.

Contracting SABSI can be life-threatening and hospitals aim to minimise cases by implementing infection prevention and control policies, including good hygiene practices. Surveillance and reporting of healthcare-associated SABSI rates in hospitals helps to improve patient safety.

Types of SABSI

The two types of SABSI reported on are:

• methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) – which can be treated with commonly used antibiotics, and
• methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which resists treatment by many types of antibiotics, and is associated with poorer patient outcomes.

Data on healthcare associated infections associated with hospital care are presented in the following data visualisation and summarised in the sections below. The data presented are for the latest year for which national data are available, and over time.

Hand hygiene refers to the washing of hands or use of alcohol-based rubs. Good hand hygiene is a first-line defence against viruses and infections, such as COVID-19, influenza and Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections. This is especially important for hospital patients whose immune systems may already be weakened due to existing health conditions, or medical treatment they are undergoing, such as surgery.

How is hand hygiene measured in hospitals?

Hand hygiene amongst healthcare workers in hospitals is continuously monitored through hand hygiene audits, and data are reported for three consecutive audit periods a year for participating hospitals as part of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI) coordinated by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC). In the last audit period (November 2022 to March 2023), data are reported here for 619 public hospitals, which is over 90% of the 680 public hospitals listed on the Australian Government Department of Health’s list of Commonwealth Declared Hospitals as at 31 October 2022.

There are certain times when the risk of healthcare workers transmitting disease in hospitals is greater. Known as hand hygiene ‘moments’, these are:

• before touching a patient (Moment 1)
• before a procedure (Moment 2)
• after a procedure or body fluid exposure risk (Moment 3)
• after touching a patient (Moment 4)
• after touching a patient’s surroundings (Moment 5).

Hand hygiene compliance rates are calculated by dividing the number of compliant hand hygiene moments by the number of moments observed by auditors. Since 2017 the national benchmark for hand hygiene compliance has been 80%.

Hand hygiene compliance for each audit period is reported here for public hospitals at national, and individual-hospital levels, as well as by hand-hygiene moment and healthcare-worker group. 

Hand hygiene in public hospitals 

The latest national-level data (from Audit period November 2022 to March 2023), show:

• the national hand hygiene compliance rate was 86% – above the 80% national benchmark
• hand hygiene for each of the 5 moments was also above the benchmark:
  1. before touching a patient: 83% 
  2. before a procedure: 91% 
  3. after a procedure or body fluid exposure risk: 93%
  4. after touching a patient: 89%
  5. after touching a patient’s surroundings: 81%
• the highest rates of hand hygiene were among:
  1. dental professionals, for example, dentists’ compliance was 94%
  2. nurses and midwives: 89%
• the following healthcare-worker groups did not meet the 80% benchmark: 
  1. doctors (medical practitioners): 76%
  2. ambulance workers: 69%
  3. domestic staff (for example, food services, cleaning and maintenance workers): 76%.

The ACSQHC (2023) reports that for Audit period 1 of 2023 the highest rates of compliance were in departments for:

1. dentistry: 93%
2. renal care: 90%
3. neonatal care, mental health care, ambulatory care, oncology/haematology, palliative care (89%).

Emergency department (78%) was the only department type that did not been the 80% benchmark.

Hand hygiene in your hospital

The interactive table in the data visualisation above presents data on hand hygiene by participating public hospitals from 2010 onwards – see 'Hospitals' tab.

Data downloads

Summary tables

See the Hospital Safety and Quality theme page for more data downloads for hand hygiene in public hospitals from 2010 onwards.

A specialised service unit is a facility or unit dedicated to the treatment or care of patients with specific conditions or characteristics, such as an intensive care unit.

A list of specialised service units and their descriptions can be found in the ‘More information about the data’ section below.

In 2022–23, the most common specialised service units in public hospitals were:

• Domiciliary care units (present in 337 public hospitals)
• Nursing home care units (present in 279 public hospitals)
• Maintenance renal dialysis centre (present in 221 public hospitals).

There were 87 Intensive care units (level III and above), and 31 Neonatal intensive care units (level III and above).

Explore the data

The data visualisation below provides a list of selected services provided by individual hospitals, including specialised care units, in 2022–23.

The information about services provided by a hospital is intended as a general guide only. There is the potential for some omissions or errors in this information and readers should contact a hospital directly for the latest advice on the services available.

A list of the types of specialised units is available in the ‘More information about the data’ section below.