Some of the busiest hospitals in NSW have reduced their emergency room wait times significantly, according to the NSW government.NSW emergency departments are among the busiest in the country, including Liverpool Hospital, Westmead Hospital, and Nepean Hospital.Liverpool Hospital's emergency department has halved its average treatment wait time for triage 2 emergency patients, down from 18 minutes to nine minutes in the last 12 months.
The emergency department building at the Bankstown-Lidcome Hospital. (Kate Geraghty)Westmead Hospital has reduced its triage 2 emergency patient wait times to nine minutes, down from 15 minutes.Nepean Hospital has seen an increase in patients being transferred from the ambulance to emergency department staff on time.Figures show 82.2 per cent of patients have been transferred on time, up from the previous figure of 65.1 per cent.Triage 2 emergency cases are patients whose lives are in imminent danger, including people suffering chest pain, difficulty breathing, stroke or severe fractures.
Emergency department wait times are falling, but the system remains under pressure. (9News)Health Minister Ryan Park said while the results were encouraging, hospital emergency rooms are still under an immense amount of pressure."I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves because these figures while encouraging, will fluctuate," Park said."Our EDs continue to grapple with record pressure and demand, and we mustn't forget that."These reduced wait times are a testament to the hard-working health staff in some of the busiest hospitals in one of the busiest health systems in the world."The figures come after $500 million investment into the public health system by the NSW and federal governments.The creation of urgent care clinics has provided a pathway for 114,000 NSW patients to receive medical treatment outside of emergency rooms.