HOSPITALS
— EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS — PRESENTATIONS
199. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's commentary and response to
my question yesterday in which he stated there has been a significant increase in demand in our emergency departments. Given ED
presentations averaged 80 000 per month for 2018–19, peaking at
86 074 in June 2019 before falling due to the COVID lockdown in April 2020, are
the current levels of ED presentations not just predictable on-trend activity?
Mr R.H. COOK replied:
No, they are not, member. December 2020 was the busiest month
ever in our emergency departments, with over 104 000 presentations, which is an
increase from less than 87 000 in July 2020.
Dr D.J. Honey: It was the middle of the lockdown.
Mr R.H. COOK: No, member. By July, our response to COVID-19
had brought people back into their workplaces—something which
may have eluded the member. Does the member remember that, or at that point was
the member busily ensconced with Clive Palmer, mapping out a proposal to try to
pull down our border?
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The SPEAKER: Leader of the Liberal Party, your colleague has
asked this question. I ask you to not keep interjecting so that she can
hear the answer along with the rest of us.
Mr R.H. COOK: Importantly, Madam Speaker, between July
2020 and December 2020, for instance, mental health ED presentations were 8.2
per cent higher than in the same period in 2018. At Perth Children's
Hospital, in 2019–20 there was a whopping
86 per cent increase in the number of patients admitted with a diagnosis of an
eating disorder. We are seeing a significant change to the pattern of
the number and type of people coming to our EDs, and particularly the level of
acuity. For instance, I spoke yesterday about the number of people presenting
in terms of different triage sets. In the first three months of this year,
category 1 presentations were four per cent higher than in the same three-month
period in 2019. That is higher than the average weighted population growth we would
expect to see in our EDs. Category 2s increased by 10.1 per cent on the same
three-month period in 2019, which is approximately double the average
age-weighted population growth that we would expect to see at this particular
time. Again, category 3 triage presentations were well above the age-weighted
population growth that we would expect to see.
Something is going on in our EDs and something is going on in
our hospitals. People right across the country are trying to come to grips with what this change of presentations looks
like and what the implications are. This has been felt in EDs right across the country. As I said,
we have seen a 10 per cent increase in the number of patients presenting
for category 2 triage. They are often the most difficult—not the most
urgent—cases to deal with and often involve admission to hospital. That
is being felt in other jurisdictions as well. There is double-digit growth in
places like Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and so on. We are seeing
significant growth in the number of people coming to our EDs and we are seeing
a change in the nature of those presentations, and that is what is putting our
system under so much pressure at the moment.