Question On Notice No. 1063 asked in the Legislative Council on 20 March 2018 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Question Directed to the: Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Health
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
I refer to the Geraldton Hospital, and I ask:
(a) for each of the last 12 months, please identify the number of people presenting to the hospital under the influence of drugs or alcohol;
(b) of those identified in (a), how many presented to the hospital for reasons other than that of their intoxication;
(c) of those identified in (a), how many were escorted to the hospital by:
(i) the Western Australia Police;
(ii) St John Ambulance;
(iii) the Community Alcohol and Drug Services; and
(iv) others;
(d) for each of the last 12 months, please identify the number of people presenting to the hospital for a 'fit for custody' medical assessment;
(e) for each occasion identified in (d), what was the length of time between the patient arriving at the hospital and being formally assessed; and
(f) for each patient identified in (d), how many were 'fit for custody'?
Answered on 8 May 2018
I am advised that:
(a) for each of the last 12 months, Geraldton Hospital reported the following number of Emergency Department (ED) attendances for people under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol;
|
Month
|
Drug and/or Alcohol
|
|
April 2017
|
21
|
|
May 2017
|
35
|
|
June 2017
|
29
|
|
July 2017
|
34
|
|
August 2017
|
24
|
|
September 2017
|
25
|
|
October 2017
|
19
|
|
November 2017
|
24
|
|
December 2017
|
21
|
|
January 2018
|
22
|
|
February 2018
|
22
|
|
March 2018
|
17
|
|
Total
|
293
|
(b) 257.
(c)(i) 45.
(c)(ii) 97.
(c)(iii) Patients were unable to be identified as presenting to the hospital under the escort of Community Alcohol and Drug Services.
(c)(iv) There were zero ED attendances that were escorted to Geraldton hospital via helicopter rescue, Royal Flying Doctor Service, or hospital transport.
There were 151 ED attending patients who arrived by private transport, public transport, taxi or other. In these instances, whether the patient was escorted to the ED by another person is not captured in the Emergency Department data.
(d) Patients were unable to be identified as presenting to the hospital for a ‘fit for custody’ medical assessment.
(e-f) Not applicable
Note: regarding data limitations for questions (a-c):
- The Drug and/or Alcohol category includes both drug and alcohol attendances and drug or alcohol attendances.
- Figures presented in this response are based on data as at 3 April 2018.