Hon James Hayward questions the Department of Health regarding ambulance transfer of care wait times at Bunbury and Albany Hospitals. The Minister provides median wait times and explains ongoing efforts to improve data collection and reporting for regional hospitals.

AnsweredQoN 230Legislative Council
Asked
10 August 2021
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to ambulance transfer of care median wait times for the Bunbury and Albany Regional Hospitals, and I ask: (a) does the Department of Health publish transfer of care median wait times for the Western Australian Country Health Service; (b) if no to (a), why not; and (c) for 14 June 2021 to 20 June 2021: (i) will the Minister please table the individual transfer of care times for all patients at Bunbury Hospital and Albany Hospital respectively; and (ii) will the Minister please table the median wait times for Albany Hospital and Bunbury Hospital respectively?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
7 September 2021
Responded by
Minister for Mental Health representing the Minister for Health
Response time
9 days
I am advised:
(a)-(b) The Department of Health is committed to reporting Transfer of Care, for all regions within Western Australia for which information is available.
The Department of Health is currently working with St John Ambulance to expand its data collection and reporting capabilities to include transfer of care for regional hospitals. This data had not been supplied to the Department due to concerns regarding its consistency, given the reliance on volunteer paramedics in regional areas. An assessment of data quality will form part of the work to incorporate regional data into the existing data collection.
Transfer of Care for some regional sites (including Albany and Bunbury) is reported publicly on the Department website under ‘Transfer of care within 30 minutes weekly activity’: https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Reports-and-publications/Emergency-Department-activity/Data?report=ed_amb_w#median
(c) (i) See tabled paper no.
(c) (ii) Median transfer of care times in minutes for 14 June 2021 to 20 June 2021
Date
Albany Hospital
Bunbury Hospital
14-Jun-21
16.2
19.8
15-Jun-21
22.7
12.8
16-Jun-21
10.6
19.5
17-Jun-21
10.2
17.5
18-Jun-21
4.1
20.8
19-Jun-21
15.4
12.5
20-Jun-21
13.4
16.5
14th to 20th Jun 2021
12.8
16.8
Notes:
Data Source: St John Ambulance data extracts
Date Extracted: 13 th August 2021

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