The NSW Government has announced a $480.7 million package to try stopping 290,000 hospital emergency department (ED) visits annually and to keep the elderly from blocking beds.
The key elements of the package aimed at easing pressure on EDs includes:
- the creation of a new patient flow concierge role that will help patients waiting to be discharged into residential aged care,
- funding for geriatric outreach services,
- expanding the capacity of hospital in the home, and
- funding for new technology to help clinical staff recognise earlier patients who are ready for discharge.
The announcement comes after figures released late last month showed that in the period 1 January to 31 March 2024, there were 810,201 ED attendances, up 5.2% on the same period the previous year and the highest figures since records began in 2010. Only 9% of ED patents spent fewer than four hours in ED, the lowest percentage since 2010. And one in 10 patients stayed in ED for nearly 11 hours.
NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park said, “In 2023, Healthdirect received more than 315,000 calls from the NSW public, of which only 35.5% were referred to an ED, with the remaining callers connected to the right care, within the right timeframe."
