Triage category 4 and 5 presentations
Half of all emergency presentations were classified as Semi-urgent or Non-urgent
This section looks at Semi-urgent (triage category 4) and Non-urgent (triage category 5) presentations in further detail, exploring when people arrived to the Emergency Department (ED), how they arrived, and if they were admitted to hospital (including referrals to other hospitals for admission). As outlined in Box 1, lower urgency ED presentations are a subset of all Semi-urgent and Non-urgent emergency presentations where the person did not arrive by ambulance, or police or correctional vehicle; and was not admitted to the hospital, not referred to another hospital, or did not die.
In 2021−22, nearly half of all emergency presentations (type of visit) were classified as Semi-urgent (36% or 3.2 million presentations) or Non-urgent (8.6% or 745,000 presentations) (Box 3). These included presentations where people arrived by ambulance (12% of all Semi-urgent and Non-urgent presentations), or were subsequently admitted to hospital (13% of all Semi-urgent and Non-urgent presentations).
The time emergency presentations occurred, if people arrived by ambulance, or if people were admitted to hospital, varied considerably between the triage categories, and across local areas. Understanding this variation can help health planners identify how best to provide care to these patients.
Box 3: Emergency presentations
All measures in this report only include Emergency presentation type of visits. This excludes ED presentations that were planned return visits, pre-arranged admissions, patients in transit, and patients who were dead on arrival. For further details refer to the Technical notes.
More Non-urgent emergency presentations occurred mid-morning
In 2021–22, one-quarter (25%) of people triaged as Non-urgent (triage category 5) and 20% of Semi-urgent (triage category 4) presented to the ED between 9am and 12pm. In comparison, 17% of Resuscitation (triage category 1), Emergency (triage category 2) and Urgent (triage category 3) presentations combined occurred in this period (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Proportion of emergency presentations by time of presentation and triage category, 2021–22
In 2021–22, the highest proportion of people triaged as Non-urgent presented to the ED between 9am to 12pm.
| Time of presentation | Resuscitation and Emergency (triage categories 1 and 2) | Urgent (triage category 3) | Semi-urgent (triage category 4) | Non-urgent (triage category 5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midnight to 3am | 7.2% | 6.5% | 4.7% | 2.9% |
| 3 to 6am | 5.1% | 4.7% | 3.3% | 2.1% |
| 6 to 9am | 7.2% | 7.4% | 8.6% | 12.2% |
| 9am to 12pm | 16.2% | 16.7% | 20% | 25.3% |
| 12 to 3pm | 18.4% | 18.6% | 19.1% | 20.5% |
| 3 to 6pm | 17.6% | 17.9% | 18.4% | 17.9% |
| 6 to 9pm | 16.4% | 16.6% | 16.2% | 12.6% |
| 9pm to midnight | 11.9% | 11.6% | 9.7% | 6.5% |
Includes presentations with an Emergency presentation type of visit only.
Rates of admission are similar for metropolitan and regional areas for people triaged as Non-urgent
Around 1 in 7 people triaged as Semi-urgent were admitted to hospital (15% or 484,000 presentations), while 4.3% triaged as Non-urgent were admitted (31,800 presentations). People living in metropolitan PHN areas who were triaged as Non-urgent were admitted to hospital at a similar rate to their regional counterparts (4.5% of presentations for metropolitan PHN areas; 4.0% of presentations for regional PHN areas).
The proportion of people triaged as Semi-urgent and Non-urgent who arrived by ambulance was similar for metropolitan (11%) and regional PHN areas (13%), but varied considerably across the country, ranging from 5.9% for people living in Country WA PHN (WA) area to 23% for people living in Northern Queensland PHN (Qld) area.