A research report published in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) has found ‘dramatic’ improvement in waiting times in Western Australia.

 

The research found a 13 per cent reduction in mortality rates in three large Perth hospitals, which have been using the four-hour target introduced in 2009.

 

“This study demonstrates that improvement in ED overcrowding after the introduction of the 4-hour rule in three tertiary hospitals in WA was associated with fewer deaths and a reduced mortality rate,” the report reads.

 

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek welcomed the study, which found that 90 per cent of patients in Western Australia will spend no more than four hours in emergency departments under nationally agreed targets.

 

“While further research will need to be undertaken to more fully assess clinical outcomes of the four-hour target, it is very encouraging that the experience of reducing waiting times in Perth hospitals has been so positive,” Ms Plibersek said.

 

The study says the four-hour target saved 80 lives – or one life every four to five days – in the three hospitals in 2010-11. 

 

The full report can be found here