Canberra, Feb 28 The proportion of Emergency Department (ED) presentations at Australian hospitals completed within a benchmark target has fallen for the eighth straight year.
Peak doctors' body, the Australian Medical Association (AMA), on Friday published the 2025 edition of its public hospital report card, revealing that 55 per cent of ED visits nationwide were completed within the benchmark target of four hours in 2023-24.
It marks the eighth consecutive year that performance in the metric has fallen. The AMA said that the proportion of ED presentations completed within the benchmark target has declined from 73 per cent in 2014-15.
An ED presentation is considered completed within four hours if a patient is discharged or departs the department within four hours of their arrival.
"The decline in performance for this metric is worryingly consistent across Australia. Concerningly, no jurisdiction saw more than 60 per cent of ED presentations completed within four hours," the report said.
In 2019-20, all but one of Australia's eight states and territories completed more than 60 per cent of ED presentations within four hours.
One-third of all ED patients triaged as "emergency", including those experiencing chest pain, severe respiratory distress or acute stroke - were not seen by a doctor within the recommended 10-minute time frame in 2023-24, up from 25 percent in 2018-19.
The report said that the overall number of public hospital beds in Australia has increased, but the number of available beds per 1,000 people aged 65 and over remained at a record-low of 14.3, Xinhua news agency reported.
"Without increased investment in our health system by both state and federal governments, capacity will continue to fall, and our already overworked hospital staff will continue to be impacted, with increasing rates of burnout," Danielle McMullen, AMA President, wrote in the report.
She said the annual report had recorded a "steady decline in public hospital performance" since it was first published in 2007.
The 2025 report was published ahead of Australia's general election, which must be held by May 17.
McMullen said that the AMA is calling on all of the nation's politicians and political parties to prioritize the health system, including hospitals.
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